— OF — 


EE'CKLESSNESS; 


—OR, — 


PERSON  AL   R EMTNTSC  'EX(  'ES 


OF   A   LIFE  PURSUED  IN   CLOSE  PROXIMITY  TO 


THE  INTOXICATING  BOWL. 


^;iie  on.  Cotes  ;  you're  all  right  now  !"—  PAGK  42. 
AVITII  APPENDED 


UNDER  THE  TYRANT  RUM. 


BY 

W.-C.  COTES. 


PRICE  TWENTY-FIVE  CENTS. 


SYCAMORE,  ILLINOIS. 
ARNOLD    BROTHERS,    PRINTERS 

1878. 


— OF — 


RECKLESSNESS; 

—  OR.  — 

PERSONAL  KEMIXISC  'KXCES 

Of  a   Life  pursued   in   close    proximity   to 

THE  INTOXICATING  HOWL. 

Drawn  entirely  from  a  full  vocabulary  of  facts, 

Shoiving  liow  easy  to  become  a  drunkard,  remain  one,  and  hoio  t& 

Reform;    Loss  of   Home  and  Friends  —  an  Outcast; 

Exciting  Scenes  ;     flair-breadth  Escapes  ; 

with 


Under  the  "Tyrant 

TJ3VL  5 


Detailing  how  obtained,  and  some  of  the  laughable  incidents  enacted, 
and  more  nearly  disastrous  results,  und>:r  its  pernicious  influence. 


BY 

W.  C.  COTES. 

PRICE  TWENTV-PIVE  CENTS. 


SYCAMORE,  ILLINOIS. 
ARNOLD    BROTHERS,    PRINTERS. 

1878. 


To  my  friend  Capt.  Ed.  Went,  of  Grand  Rapids,  Michigan,  who 
formed  the  first  Red  Ribbon  Temperance  Reform  Club  in  the  State 
of  Illinois,  and  was  instrumental  through  that  effort  in  bringing 
ab  out  my  attempted  reformation,  and  by  which  means  an  aimless 
and  useless  life  has  been  turned  to  one  of  usefulness,  is  his  little 
volume  most  respectfully  dedicated  by  THE  AUTHOR. 


"  Come  on,  Cotes,  you're  all  right  now 


Having,  through  the  persistent  use  of  intoxicating  stimulants  for 
many  years,  lost  property,  money,  position,  and  friends  of  influence, 
I  willingly  begin  at  the  bottom  of  labor's  ladder  to  ascend  to,  at  least, 
respectability.  Being  a  printer,  andj  formerly  an  editor,  I  commence 
in  my  more  natural  element  to  accomplish  this  end.  Having  person- 
ally performed  the  practical  part  of  the  work  in  this  narrative,  I  now 
place  it  before  a  generous  public,  hoping  that  it  may  be  the  means  of 
doing  good,  and  at  the  same  time  enable  me  to  retrieve  at  least  some 
portion  of  a  scattered  fortune.  Very  Respectfully,  &c., 

W.  C.  COTES. 


CHAPTER  1. 

DEAR  READER  :  Did  you  ever  consider  how  many  persons  have 
been  ruined,  soul  and  body;  persons  whose  souls  have  been  literally 
burned  out  of  their  bodies  by  the  fire-fiend — rum,  and  have  taken 
flight  for  eternity  to  appear  before  that  God  whose  mandate  has 
gone  forth  that  no  drunkard  shall  inherit  the  kingdom  of  heaven? 
Go  visit  the  prisons  of  our  cities  and  states,  and  in  their  dreary 
cells  behold  the  outlaw  who  neither  fears  the  law  of  God  or  man. 
What  brought  these  poor  felons  to  their  present  condition  ?  I  an- 
swer that  in  nine  cases  out  of  every  ten  it  was  a  fondness  for  the 
intoxicating  bowl. 

In  the  winter  of  1876  those  persons  opposed  to  the  now  stringent 
law  controlling  the  liquor  traffic  in  the  state  of  Illinois  drew  up  a 
petition  to  the  state  legislature  invoking  that  body  to  re  peal  or  mod- 
ify the  said  laws.  Remonstrances  were  also  put  in  circulation,  and 
among  others  one  from  the  prison  at  Joliet  that  was  signed  by  up- 
wards of  one  thousand  convicts,  asking  that  the  legislators  "do  not 
repeal,  modify,  "  etc.  Is  not  this  alone  sufficient  to  convince  the 
skeptical  ones  of  the  undeniable  facts  as  here  set  forth? 

Go  visit  the  hospitals,  and  among  the  inmates  you  will  there  find 
three-fourths  of  those  afflicted  with  paralysis,  dropsy,  convulsions, 
and  that  most  terrible  calamity  that  can  befall  man,  insanity,  are 
the  victims  of  intemperance.  Visit  the  rum  holes  that  so  frequent- 
ly abound  in  our  midst,  and  among  their  patrons  observe  the  blear- 
e}red,  the  bloated  countenance,  the  palsied  and  tottering  frame,  the 
staggering  gait,  the  poverty-stricken,  the  general  wretchedness,  and 
the  most  detestable  deeds  of  violence  and  vice  everywhere  appa- 
rent; and  hear  the  oaths  and  curses,  and  the  vile  and  loathsome  Ian- 


6  EIGHTEEN  YEARS  OF  RECKLESSNESS. 

guage  continually  issuing  from  these  licensed  dens  of  iniquity ;  and 
when  your  soul  sickens  at  the  sight  of  such  human  misery  and  deg- 
redation,  remember  this  is  the  work  of  a  legalized  system.  Great 
God  !  whither  are  we  drifting  ?  See  the  thousands  and  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  wretched  beings  who  daily  drink  the  fiery  fluid  that  far- 
ther and  farther  removes  them  from  God  and  mercy. 

Behold  the  drunkard  as  he  has  just  arisen  from  the  gutter,  reel- 
ing homeward,  his  eyes  inflamed,  his  face  swollen  and  bruised,  and 
his  entire  being  indicating  the  most  extreme  wretchedness.  You 
can  see  nothing  about  him  that  evinces  the  feelings  of  the  inner 
man,  but  be  assured  the  mind  of  that  man,  ruined  as  it  is,  suffers 
inexpressible  anguish.  He  knows  and  feels  his  condition;  he  imag- 
ines he  can  never  again  be  received  •  into  society  as  he  was  wont  to 
be;  he  compares  his  former  condition  to  his  present,  and  the  • 
thoughts  so  harrass  him  that  he  hastens  to  the  cup  to  bury  them  in 
the  insanity  of  alcohol. 

I  cannot  urge  that  I  am  not  prepared  to  say  something  in  regard 
to  these  consequences  that  must  inevitably  fall  to  the  lot  of  those 
who  worship  at  the  shrine  of  Bacchus,  for  the  sad  fate  that  a  long- 
experience  has  given  has  had  a  tendency  to  seriously  prejudice 
myself  against  this  evil,  and  to  induce  me  to  use  every  honorable 
method  to  stay  the  progress  of  this  the  world's  greatest  known 
curse.  I  do  not  propose  to  offer  anything  probably  new  upon  the 
subject,  for  it  is  the  same  old,  old  story.  Call  it  threadbare,  if  you 
please ;  but  you  must  agree  in  the  conclusion  that  the  evil  influen- 
ces and  tendencies  are  to-day  as  deleterious  and  destructive  as  they 
were  twenty,  or  even  fifty  years  ago.  The  same  old  story  of  drunk- 
en debauchery,  misery,  crime,  filling  of  jails,  alms-houses,  peniten- 
tiaries, etc.,  will  all  bear  repeating;  and  I  would  to  God  that  they 
might  be  indelibl}7  imprinted  upon  the  brow  and  in  the  bosom  of 
every  human  being  in  the  land  till  the  last  vestige  of  strong  drink 
is  banished  from  off  the  face  of  the  globe. 

Having  for  eighteen  or  twenty  years  suffered  the  fate  of  an  ine- 
briate, I  consider  myself  priveleged  to  so  loudly  denounce  the  traffic; 
and  however  humiliating  it  may  be  to  make  such  an  acknowledg- 
ment to  the  world  of  myself,  yet,  if  by  it  or  through  any  other 
effort  of  mine,  in  this  so  recently  espoused  cause,  it  may  have  the 
effect  of  saving  a  single  person  who  is,  or  may  be  on  this  down- 
ward road  to  disgrace  and  ruin,  I  am  amply  repaid.  We  say  dis- 


EIGHTEEN  YEARS  OF  RECKLESSNESS.  7 

grace  and  ruin  not  only  in  the  world  through  which  we  are  passing, 
but  eventually  bringing  about  the  loss  of  the  soul  in  the  world  of 
which  we  are  all  soon  to  know  and  feel  the  realities. 

When  in  these  pages  the  word  "drunkard"  is  used,  I  hope  the  so- 
called  moderate  drinker  will  not  censure  me  if  he  is  classed  in  the 
same  category,  simply  because  there  is  no  designated  place  at  which 
to  draw  the  dividing  line ;  and  I  may  as  well  here  relate  how  I  be- 
came aware  that  I  had  crossed  the  unknown  parallel,  and  was  fully 
known  as  a  debauchee : 

While  living  in  Chicago,  a  friend  of  mine  had  promised  to  en- 
deavor to  find  employment  for  me.  Being  a  wealthy  and  influen- 
tial man  I  felt  positive  he  would  be  successful  in  doing  so ;  and  you 
may  well  imagine  how  pleased  I  was  when  he  left  word  at  my  home 
for  me  to  call  at  his  residence  upon  a  certain  evening.  I  can  as- 
sure you  that  the  distance  was  stepped  oft*  briskly  to  hear  of  the 
long  wished  for  engagement.  When  I  met  him  and  inquired  if  he 
had  been  successful  he  replied,  "I  have  not,  and  cannot  be,  for  you 
are  not  to  be  depended  upon."  I  remonstrated,  when  he  suddenly 
stopped  me  with  the  words  : 

"Do  you  not  know  that  you  are  a  drunkard  C' 

"What,  me  !  why  no ;  you  are  mistaken ;  I  know  I  take  an  occa- 
sional drink,  but  moderate  drinking  is  not  being  a  drunkard." 

"But,"  replied  he,  "you  have  crossed  the  line,  and  all  who  know 
you  are  aware  of  it." 

I  felt  serious — tears  came  to  eyes  unused  to  weep,  and  when  I 
told  my  wife  how  cruelly  I  had  been  accused  she  only  solaced  my 
new  found  affliction  by  adding : 

"And  you  did  not  know  it.  Now  tell  me  how  you  came  into  the 
house  evening  before  last,  and  with  whom  ?" 

I  reflected  for  a  considerable  length  of  time,  but  could  come  to  no 
definite  conclusion,  and  my  surprise  and  dismay  may  be  imagined 
when  I  was  told  that  some  friend  had  brought  me  to  the  house  at  a 
late  hour  of  the  night  in  such  a  state  that  he  was  obliged  to  take 
my  night-key  from  my  pocket  and  let  me  in — that  I  then  fell 
against  and  broke  a  mirror  in  the  hall  hat-rack,  and  finally  reach- 
ing the  parlor  fell  heavily  to  the  floor. 

This  evidence  was  such  as  to  induce  a  good  resolve,  but  how  well 
I  was  living  up  to  it  may  be  evinced  by  the  transpiring  of  an  inci- 
dent shortly  after ;  it  was  a  remark  made  to  me  by  my  daughter,. 


8  EIGHTEEN  YEARS  OF  RECKLESSNESS. 

then  a  little  girl  only  five  years  of  age.  The  little  one,  as  was 
her  wont,  was  waiting  at  the  gate  for  my  arrival.  I  came,  but  was 
''half-seas  over."  As  she  approached  me  in  tears  she  lisped  out  the 
word  "papa,"  and  that  was  all  that  was  discernable,  for  her  little 
heart  was  nearly  broken.  But  her  troubles  were  soon.made  known. 
"I  cannot  plav  with  that  nice  little  girl  next  door,  for  her  ma  said 

l         */ 

so." 

It  was  some  time  before  I  received  the  reason  assigned,  but  final- 
ly it  came  : 

"Her  ma  said,  because  my  pa  was  a  drunkard,"  and  the  tears  con- 
tinued to  roll  down  her  little  red  cheeks.  I  staggered  into  the 
house  with  the  sorrowing  one  in  my  arms,  but  felt  so  badly 
that  I  hastened  to  my  room.  When  I  came  out  both  little  girls — 
for  I  had  one  two  years  older — put  their  tiny  arms  about  my  neck 
kissed  me,  and  said : 

"Don't  feel  sad,  papa,  for  we  are  going  to  pray  to  God  to-night 
that  people  may  not  have  occasion  to  call  you  such  a  hard  name 
again  ;  ma  told  us  to;  and  she  is  now  in  her  room  praying  all  about 
it." 

With  all  this  preponderance  of  guilt  and  evidence  I  could  not  yet 
but  consider  these  conclusions  •  overdrawn,  but  felt  again  that  the 
habit  must  be  subdued  e'er  I  became  a  drunkard  as  I  understood  it. 
But  it  was  even  now  too  late  for,  imsuspicioned  by  me,  I  had  form- 
ed the  accursed  appetite.  And  I  wou'd  ask  you,  moderate  dram- 
taker,  are  you  not  unconsciously  floating  upon  the  same  sea  ?  If 
you  argue  that  you  can  drink  or  let  it  alone,  just  try  abstinence  for 
a  single  month,  and  my  word  for  it  many  of  you  will  find  yourselves 
in  the  unenviable  position  of  the  inebriate ;  and  after  once  there 
the  desire  created  is  so  strong  that  everything  in  your  power  to  give 
would  be  offered  a  willing  sacrifice  for  release. 

This  latter  fact  was  fully  demonstrated  in  a  single  instance  that 
occurred  in  my  home  at  Sycamore,  Illinois,  in  the  spring  of  1877. 
One  of  the  former  best  and  most  worthy  citizens,  and  one  who  re- 
tained a  large  property  died  from  indiscretion  in  the  use  of  strong 
drink;  and  only  a  short  time  previous  to  his  last  illness  he  remarked 
to  a  friend  that  if  he  would  never  crave  another  drink  he  would  wil- 
lingly and  gratuitously  part  with  his  long  established  business,  his 
farm — in  fact  everything  he  possessed,  and  then  with  a  half  spent 
life  commence  anew  the  struggles  incident  to  such  a  course.  That 


EIGHTEEN  YEARS  OF  RECKLESSNESS.  9 

his  fate  was  hourly  being  sealed  no  kind  friends  need  apprise  him,  for 
it  -was  known  and  realized  till  the  angel  Death  summoned  the 
soul  from  a  body  racked  with  the  pains  of  a  life  sacrificed  to  the 
uncontrolled  appetite  of  strong  drink. 

One  conclusion  we  may  safely  arrive  at,  and  that  is  every  drink  of 
alcoholic  mixture  the  consumer  of  intoxicants  puts  into  his  stom- 
ach only  hastens  the  day  when  the  sods  of  the  valley  will  cover  over 
the  remains  of  a  drunkard.  What  a  thought !  to  die  a  drunkard, 
and  live  a  drunkards'  eternity  !  And  then  when  the  person  is  buri- 
ed out  of  human  sight,  what  are  the  most  ordinary  remarks  made 
in  respect  to  this  last  earthly  career : 

"Well  he  is  gone  ;  he  was  of  no  use  to  the  community — only  a 
detriment,  and  it  would  have  been  better  for  his  now  fatherless 
children  that  the  wife  had  long  ago  put  on  the  mourning  weeds  of 
the  widow."  Are  these  not  realities  as  they  occur  to  us  every  day  ? 
Indeed  the}'  are  true — too  true — dread  realities. 

Notice,  if  you  please,  the  haggard,  pale  face  of  the  wife  of  such  a 
man  as  we  have  described.  Can  you  not  read  there  that  she  who 
was  once  loved  and  respected  is  now  heart  broken,  and  that  her 
steps  are  fast  hastening  to  that  bourne  from  which  no  traveler  e'er 
returns.  At  last,  worn  by  the  cares  of  life — weary  of  her  strug- 
gles, she  willingly  and  happily  closes  her  eyes  to  us  forever.  She 
was  a  good  wife  and  mother,  and  most  probably  a  woman  adorned 
with  Christian  graces — one  who  had  offered  up  hundreds  of  prayers 
for  that  husband's  reform,but  trusting  in  God,  could  wait  no  longer 
to  see  it,  and  in  all  probability  her  last  prayer  was  breathed  in  his 
behalf. 


CHAPTER  II. 

ONES'  personal  experience  in  this  long  life  of  alcoholic  disease,  or 
if  you  please,  a  life  led  after  the  appetite  for  the  to-be-dreaded 
dram  is  created,  differs  probably  but  little  in  the  main  features ;  but 
that  such  a  life  is  most  direful  and  to  be  shunned  you  may  become 
more  fully  aware  even  by  some  of  the  simple  personal  experiences 
related,  or  to  be  presented  in  the  pages  of  this  little  volume. 

We  notice  that  after  a  man  has  for  a  number  of  years  used  his 
stomach  as  an  alcoholic,  copper-lined  distillery,  it  is  quite  seldom 
he  finds  rest  short  of  the  grave;  and  I  consider  the  cases  most  rare 
where  a  genuine  reformation  is  accomplished  by  the  will  of  man 
alone — no  matter  how  strong,  but  that  the  help  of  the  Being  who 
holds  the  Universe  in  His  hands  must  be  invoked  and  retained. 

Good  resolutions  once  formed  are  too  frequently  broken,  and  thus 
it  has  been  in  my  case.  Old  Time  with  his  relentless  Sythe  passed 
on,  cutting  from  the  right  and  the  left,  but  left  me  swaying  back- 
ward and  forward  with  the  human  tide — drunk  and  sober,  but  to 
my  shame  be  it  said,  with  a  large  predominance  of  the  former. 

For  the  past  many  years,  I  reiterate,  whisky  and  sugar  was  mine, 
but  more  latterly  preferring  the  crude  state,  the  taste  for  sweetness 
having  been  eradicated  by  the  devouring  selfishness  of  the  stronger. 

I  was  acquainted  with  a  hard  drinking  lawyer  in  Chicago  who 
absorbed  many  drinks  during  the  day,  and  whose  drams  would  al- 
ternately be  whisky  and  sugar,  and  whisky  and  lemon  juice.  I 
asked  him  his  reasons  for  drinking  in  this  manner,  and  was  inrormed 
that  the  two  were  antagonistical  to  each  other  and  that  while  they 
were  contending  for  supremacy  in  the  stomach  they  bothered  him 
less  for  more. 

After  many  months  and  years  of  this  wavering,  I  was  induced  to 
discontinue  the  evil  practices  I  had  so  long  disgraced  myself  by  fol- 
lowing, and  in  my  attempt  to  live  up  to  the  solemnity  of  the  pledge 
felt  happy  in  the  sacrifice  that  was  concededly  essential.  Not  only 
was  the  new  life  a  personal  pride,  but  one  mutually  enjoyed  by  a 
once  more  happy  household.  But  alas  for  the  uncertainty  of  man's 


EIGHTEEN  YEARS  OF  RECKLESSNESS.  11 

calculations — poor   weak   man,  so  easily   forgetful  of  the  God  who 
only  can  support  the  poor  loathing  inebriate. 

There's  never  a  day  so  sunny 
But  a  little  cloud  appears  ; 
There's  never  a  life  so  happy 

But  has  had  its  time  of  tears  ; 
Yet  the  sun  shines  out  the  brighter 
When  the  stormy  tempest  clears. 

Could  one  of  you,  dear  readers,  conceive  that  the  pleasures  of  so- 
briety and  domestic  happiness  could  be  of  only  a  short  duration  ? 
Yet  in  this  case  it  was  so,  and  so  too  it  will  be — more  or  less — 
through  a  drunkards'  career  unless  the  most  indomitable  will  and 
perseverance  is  brought  into  action.  In  an  evil  hour,  and  in  a  most 
subtle,  quiet  manner,  the  demon  destruction  threw  a  decoy  upon 
the  bright  path  that  was  now  seemingly  so  pleasant.  I  slipped — 
stumbled,  and  fell  once  more  into  the  depravity  of  wretchedness. 
An  unexpected  doom  was  now  in  store,  for  shortly  after,  upon  en- 
tering that  late  home  of  peace  and  quiet,  the  countenance  of  that 
long-loving  wife  suddenly  fell.  Her  words  were  simple,  indignant, 
but  full  of  meaning: 

"The  glass  has  again  touched  those  lips ;  'tis  too  much ;  my  cup  of 
sorrow  is  now  full  to  overflowing.  O  God !  have  my  prayers  fallen 
barren  to  the  ground  just  as  their  fruits  were  beginning  to  be  felt? 
and  am  I  a  lamenting  Rachel  ? 

"My  husband,  when  you  last  pledged  yourself  to  total  abstinence 
I  took  a  vow  that  if  again  I  was  deceived  I  could  never  after  call 
you  by  the  endearing  name  that  under  other  circumstances  would  be 
your  due.  Go !  go  •  my  word  has  gone  forth ;  and  may  God  help  you." 
What !  Great  God  !  — I  reel — stagger,  and  and  nearly  fall.  Yes, 
'tis  true,  too  true — no  idly  drawn  picture  of  fancy.  Turned  from  a 
home  of  years,  abandoned,  and  thrown  once  again  upon  the  waves 
of  a  terrible  maelstrom  to  be  drawn  into  the  vortex  of  temptation 
and  sin — alone,  unaided,  uncared  for,  an  outcast  for  the  few  short 
days  yet  to  be  spared. 

Only  a  drunkard !  staggering  by ; 
See  that  he  comes  not  our  door  too  nigh; 
Clothes  tattered  and  mangled, 
Hair  matted  and  tangled, 
A  sneer  on  his  lip  and  a  leer  in  his  eye ; 
Only  a  drunkard !  dirty  and  torn, 
Forsaken  and  helpless,  bereft  and  forlorn ! 


12  EIGHTEEN  YEARS  OF  RECKLESSNESS. 

But  once  more  a  change  came.  A  great  tidal  wave  of  temper- 
ance reform  recently  swept  over  the  land.  The  reformed  Murphy 
gathered  in  his  tens  of  thousands  ;  the  evangelist,  Moody  did  the 
same.  The  reformed  men  and  organizations  of  ladies  and  hundreds 
of  other  mediums  kept  the  ball  in  motion  ;  and  but  a  short  time  ago 
Dr.  Reynolds  kindled  a  little  fire  in  Michigan  that  was  christened 
the  "Red  Ribbon"  movement,  and  which  from  the  small  organiza- 
tion of  six  members  we  soon  learned  attained  to  the  enormous 
membership  of  two  hundred  thousand  in  that  state  alone.  It  was 
a  besom  of  destruction  to  its  opponents  ;  and  this  great  fire  in  that 
state  was  only  subdued  when  the  combustible  matter  to  be  devour- 
ed was  about  consumed.  From  this  great  heat  sparks  flew  abroad, 
and  in  the  month  of  May  '77  one  accidentally  fell  down  in  Syca- 
more. It  was  a  still  burning  ember  from  this  distant  fire.  From 
this,  the  first  beginning  in  Illinois,  the  flame  spread — is  still  spread- 
ing, and  would  our  prayer  prevail  it  would  sweep  over  this  and  ev- 
•ery  other  state  in  the  Union  as  it  did  over  the  one  of  its  origin. 

Your  humble  servant  was  one  of  its  victims,  and  one  of  the  first 
to  be  swallowed  up  by  it.  What  effect  had.  the  movement  in  this 
little  town  of  four  or  five  thousand  inhabitants  ?  It  was  to  crush 
out  the  whisky  element — beat  down  their  strong  barriers,  and  to- 
day sways  its  giant  legal  grip  over  those  who  would  see  the  downfall 
of  you  and  I  that  their  coffers  might  be  filled  with  lucre  from  the 
devil's  tills.  And  as  a  monument  of  its  fame  and  perpetuity,  can 
there  be  a  more  enduring  one  than  the  finely  furnished  and  well 
stocked  free  library  and  reading  rooms  established  and  control- 
ed  by  the  red  ribbon  club,  and  such  as  follow  in  the  wake  of  these 
organizations?  Visit  these  reading  rooms  at  almost  any  hour  and 
see  the  numbers  that  would  otherwise  spend  their  time  in  saloons. 

It  is  not  in  such  places  that  the  germ  of  intemperance  originates. 
My  own  experience  tells  too  plainly  of  this  fact.  Had  there  been 
such  a  place  in  my  native  boyhood  town,  I  could,  in  all  probability 
have  been  spared  the  recitals  herein  set  forth ;  for  it  was  in  those 
days  that  was  inculcated  the  evils  that  have  since  proved  so  detri- 
mental. 

How  I  became  a  drunkard  was  from  one  of  the  most  simple  com- 
mencements possible.  It  was  not  by  quaffing  lager  beer,  nor  was 
it  by  drinking  cider.  It  was  while  learning  my  trade  as  a  printer, 
er  in  printer's  parlance,  acting  as  office  devil, 


EIGHTEEN  YEARS  OF  RECKLESSNESS.  13: 

It  was  the  custom  to  visit  a  bar-room  in  the  evening  for  the  pur- 
pose of  witnessing  the  game  of  billiards.  After  a  time  I,  with 
others  of  my  class,  thought  it  quite  manly  to  walk  up  to  the  bar 
and  take  a  glass  of  lemonade — simple  lemonade.  Upon  a  certain 
occasion  one  of  the  lads  of  a  little  more  advanced  set  remarked 
to  me : 

"Why  don't  you  take  a  decent  drink  like  us  fellows?— put  a  fly 
in  your  glass." 

Upon  interrogating  as  to  the  meaning  of  "fly,"  and  being 
informed  that  it  was  the  addition  of  port  wine,  I  took  it  for  awhile 
with  the  fly ;  later  with  a  little  more  "fly,"  until  I  finally  took  it 
all  "fly."  I  was  then  already  on  the  straight  broad  road  to  a  drunk- 
ards grave,  and  as  the  sequel  has  shown,  came  very  near  reaching  it. 

The  turn  m  the  lane  was  by  the  red  ribbon  and  its  motto  "dare 
to  do  right"— not  that  by  the  external  there  is  any  particular 
saving  power  in  it,  but  in  the  sentiment  of  the  motto  which  must  em- 
anate from  the  heart.  I  found  this  change  so  sudden  that  I  could 
scarcely  realize  the  fact.  While  a  drinking  man  I  would  not,  if  I 
could  help  it,  look  a  respectable  member  of  society  in  the  face,  so  guilty 
was  a  conscience  of  wrong-doing,  while  subsequently  it  was  only  enjoy- 
able to  seek  that  class  of  associations ;  and  I  cm  assure  the  reader 
that  nothing  can  more  cheer  up  and  encourage  the  drinking  or  reform- 
ing man  than  a  kind  word,  or  the  cheerful  hand-shake  from  the  heart 
of  sympathy.  Though 

Only  a  drunkard,  Oh  pity  him  still ! 
Awaken  his  courage :  reform  his  will. 

Pluck  him  from  ruin's  ledge  : 

Hold  him  by  honor's  pledge. 
The  hopes  of  his  life  he  shall  yet  fulfill ; 

Only  a  drunkard  !  there's  One  who  will  savo 

Our  own  brother-man  from  a  drundard'a  grave. 

For  parts,  at  least,  of  many  years,  an  affectionate  wife,  who  though 
in  middle  life,  has  her  head  silvered  o'er  with  grey,  caused  by  sorrow, 
has  during  my  drunkenness  supported  not  only  myself  but  the  family, 
and  she  too,  seeming  frequently  upon  the  verge  of  the  grave.  Like 
most  others  similarly  situated,  she  still  stood  true  and  unswerving,  even 
though  often  advised  that  health  and  even  life  depended  upon  a  sep- 
aration. Yes,  and  she  a  drunkard's  wife,  yet  in  her  disgrace  stood 
by  when  all  others  had  forsaken  ;  when  no  other  cheering  voice  or 
welcome  hand  was  near  to  sympathize  or  comfort.  Why  did  she  do  it  ? 


14  EIGHTEEN  YEARS  OF  RECKLESSNESS. 

Her  own  words  were,  that  from  chilhood  up  she  had  placed  her  trust  in 
God,  and  she  felt  that  He  would  answer  her  petitions, — that  she 
would  yet  live  to  see  her  husband,  not  only  a  reformed  man,  but  a 
Christian. 

How  thankful  was  she  that  I  was  not  deserted  to  perish  in  the  high, 
ways  of  sin  and  disgrace.  By  her  returned  affection  was  I  not  in  that 
alone  amply  repaid  for  the  effort  at  reform  ?  When  informed  that  I 
had  exerted  what  influence,  for  good,  I  could  at  home,  it  was  at  her 
earnest  solicitation  that  I  made  a  tour  of  lecturing.  "Go,"  said  she, 
"to  other  towns  and  cities,  and  save  others  from  such  a  doom ;  save  some 
poor  wife  from  suffering  as  I  have  suffered ;  go  on  your  mission  of  love 
to  your  fellow  men ;  I  am  not  afraid  to  trust  you — the  tempter  will  not 
make  you  fall ;  God  is  with  you,  who  can  be  against  you." 


CHAPTER  III. 

A  drunken  man  is  not  only  very  sensitive  but  very  shrewd,  and 
endeavors  by  every  means  at  his  command  to  keep  his  habits  from  the 
prying  public  eye,  as  most  of  my  readers  are  undoubtedly  aware  ;  and 
in  more  ways  than  one  he  is  peculiar- — very  peculiar.  In  years 
gone  by,  my  wife  would  look  for  my  regular  return  home,  and  watch- 
ing from  the  gate  tell  when  she  saw  me  turn  the  corner,  half  a  block 
away,  just  about  what  my  condition  was  by  the  way  my  hat  was  worn. 
When  it  was  in  the  proper  place  upon  the  head  I  was  about  as  sober  as 
I  generally  ever  pretended  to  be  ;  when  it  was  cocked  upon  one  side,  I 
was  about  three  sheets  in  the  wind,  and  in  my  individual  extended 
imagination,  was  the  only  gentleman  in  Chicago  that  was  considered 
unusually  wise ;  but  when  the  tile  was  thrown  back,  the  lamp-posts 
were  attempting  awkward  and  unsteady  pedestrianism,  and  myself 
seriously  contemplating  petitioning  the  city  council  in  regard  to 
widening  the  sidewalks. 

Did  you  ever  notice  how  a  staggering  man  walks  straight  ?  that, 
too,  is  peculiar,  but  in  his  own  estimation  he  is  all  right  and.  making 
a  direct  bee-line  for  his  destination.  When  I  have  been  only  suffici- 
ently bamboozled  as  to  realize  the  fact  of  irregular  navigation,  I  have 
feigned  lameness  to  deceive  as  to  my  true  position. 

As  I  before  remarked,  the  drunken  man  needs  sympathy,  not  abuse  ; 
for  it  is  morally  certain  that  a  person  cannot  be  made  to  reform  by 
force  ;  coersion  is  the  wrong  horn  of  the  dilemma.  I  may  illustrate 
this  by  a  little  personal  experience  in  my  own  domestic  life,  as  the 
circumstances  only  tended  to  add  to  a  then  considerable  drunk :  In  a 
rather  worse  than  usual  condition  I  entered  my  home  in  Chicago,  and 
upon  visiting  the  dining-room,  my  wife  made  the  true  remark  : 

"Drunk  again  !  " 

"  What  of  it  ?"  was  the  reply. 

Noticing  at  tne  same  time  a  chair  standing  near  the  door  leading  a 
step  or  two  down  into  the  kitchen,  with  the  exclamation  one,  two, 
three,  out  went  the  chair,  and  something  or  somebody — more  of  the 
something — with  it.  Upon  attempting  to  resume  a  perpendicular 
position  I  ascertained  that  for  once,  at  least,  with  my  wife,  "  forbear- 
ance ceased  to  be  a  virtue." 


16  EIGHTEEN  YEARS  OF  RECKLESSNESS. 

Another  peculiarity  of  the  drunkai'd  is  that  he  is  the  earliest  riser  in 
the  city.  I  have  often  gone  out  at  day-light,  after  having  waited  long 
for  that  time  to  arrive,  and  taken  a  position  where  I  could  watch  for 
the  first  opening  of  one  of  several  saloons  that  I  could  procure  what 
was  termed  in  drinking  men's  parlance  an  "eye-opener;"  and  as  the 
welcome  door  swung  on  its  hinges  I,  with  others,  rushed  in.  Upon 
such  occasions  the  hands  were  all  of  a  tremble,  and  the  first  attempt  to 
raise  the  poisoned  glass  was  often  ineffectual ;  then  both  hands  were 
resorted  to,  and  when  this  proved  useless,  the  handkerchief  was  the 
only  available  means  left.  This  latter  is  accomplished  by  throwing 
the  "wipe"  back  of  the  neck,  and  pulling  with  the  right  han  1  one  cor- 
ner, while  the  left  is  attached  to  the  glass  and  other  end  of  the  'ker- 
chief. It  was  necessary  to  procure  this  stimulant  to  stop  the  awful 
fluttering,  beating  and  gnawing  in  the  stomach,  owing  to  the  numerous 
potations  taken  into  that  recepttacle  the  day  or  night  previous.  One 
drink  was  not  sufficient  to  quiet  this  feeling  and  steady  the  norves,  but 
frequently  it  required  from  five  to  seven  before  breakfast  to  accom- 
plish the  object. 

I  attempted  to  avoid  this  running  out  mornings,  as  it  was  i.ot  only 
unpleasant  but  displeased  my  wife,  who  seemed  to  doubt  the  correct- 
ness of 'the  statement  that  I  could  have  no  appetite  for  breakfast  until 
I  had  taken  a  walk  in  the  fresh  morning  air.  The  way  this  was  done, 
or  attempted  to  be  done,  was  by  filling  a  bottle  and  carrying  it  home 
at  night,  so  that  it  would  be  in  readiness  the  following  morning  ;  but 
it  was  not  always  certain  that  it  would  be  found  all  right  when  looked 
for,  as  that  life-partner  of  mine  soon  suspicioned  the  act,  and  caused 
the  destruction  of  everything  of  that  kind  that  came  in  her  way.  I 
would  resort  to  every  conceivable  device  to  secrete  it  safely  from  her 
observation — under  board?,  in  the  wood-pile,  in  oM  stove  pipe,  etc. 
I  remember  well  upon  one  occasion  when  1  had  hidden  the  precious 
fluid  under  a  stone-crock  turned  bottom  side  up  on  a  shelf.  I  remem- 
ber, too,  how  well  pleased  I  was  in  the  morning  to  find  it  stifl  there — 
how  eagerlv  I  grasped  the  bottle  and  after  two  or  three  swallows 
ascertained  that  it  was  only  the  harmless  beverage  of  COLD  TEA. 

When  possible,  of  late  years,  I  have  kept  this  decoction  under  my 
pillow  so  that  the  regular  dram  could  be  taken  at  night  as  well  as  during 
the  day,  only  not  quite  so  often  ;  and  by  thus  doing  I  proved  the 
truthfulness  of  the  old  toper's  adage,  that  it  was  not  the  regular  drinks 
but  "the  drinks  between  drinks"  that  did  the  damage. 


CH AFTER  IV. 

I  have  already  spoken  of  the  difference  in  the  feelings  of  the  drunk- 
ard after  he  has  commenced  to  reform.  When  I  put  my  name  to  the 
total-abstinence  pledge  as  an  attempted  finality,  I  felt  confident  that 
by  so  doing  I  had  saved  a  life  that  was  about  passing  away,  for  I  had 
been  drinking  over  a  quart  of  the  fiery  fluid  daily  for  almost  two 
weeks,  and  was  very  nearly  in  readiness  for  an  attack  of  delirium  tre- 
mena. 

When  I  became  sober  enough  to  realize  my  position,  I  seemed  to 
have  been  standing  upon  the  brink  ot  a  very  high  precipice,  from 
which  position  I  could  view  below  the  bottomless  pit,  where  were 
writhing  the  victims  of  sin  in  the  utmost  agony  ;  that,  as  it  were,  I 
was  already  leaning  forward — bending  slowly  over  it,  being  drawn  by 
a  mysterious  and  irresistible  power,  until  at  last  my  feet  were  slipping 
to  carry  me  off,  off,  down,  down,  where  forever  there  could  be  no 
insight  into  the  realms  of  never-ending  bliss,  when  suddenly  I  was 
rescuei  by  strong  hands,  and  saved  from  the  terrible  doom  that  seemed 
so  imminent.  Need  I  add  that  the  strong  and  willing  hands  were  only 
the  adoption  and  perseverance  in  resolutions  which  should  be  heeded 
by  every  absorber  of  stimulants  in  the  land  ?  You  know,  full  well, 
there  are  many  in  every  community  who  are  approaching,  and  some 
who  are  even  bending  over  this  fearful  abyss.  My  advice  to  any  such 
is  to  take  the  same  remedy  I  did.  May  God  put  it  in  their  hearts  to  so 
determine  ;  then  by  asking  and  receiving  His  assistance,  they  are 
saved — and  not  till  then. 

It  is  easier  to  start  at  the  present  time  in  this  pleasant  life  than  in 
the  future. 

How  much  money  a  drinking  man  squanders,  he  scarcely  knows  > 
neither  has  he  the  least  idea  of  the  amount  of  whisky  he  con- 
sumes. Having  looked  into  the  matter  a  little,  figures  show  that  a 
hard  drinker,  at  middle  »ge;  has  consumed  about  forty-five  or  fifty 
barrels  of  this  pleasant,  "life-giving  tonic"  alone,  to  say  nothing  of 
wagon  loads  of  beer,  ale,  wine,  &c.,  to  which  might  be  added  many 
gallons  of  that  now-a-days  temperance  beverage — cider  ;  the  latter  of 


18  EIGHTEEN  YEARS  OF  RECKLESSNESS. 

which  produces  the  best  fighting  drunk  of  anything  that  could  be  rec- 
ommended. Besides  this,  after  it  is  thought  to  have  passed  off — that 
is  the  effect — a  man  can  get  up  in  the  morning,  and  he  will  be  apt  to 
reach  his  arms  up  and  out  at  full  length  to  find  in  imagination  the 
boundaries  of  a  swelled  head ;  and  it  is  not  at  all  improbable  that 
it  was  from  the  effect  of  this  that  a  colored  citizen  explained  to  a 
companion : 

"  I  'toxticated  once,  and  dat's  enuff  for  dis  chile.  Why,  de  Lor' 
bress  you,  my  head  felt  as  if  was  a  wood-shed,  an'  all  de  darkies  in 
de  worl'  was  a  splittin'  wood  in  it ! " 

That  any  habit  persisted  in  will  grow  upon  the  victim,  none  will  for 
a  moment  doubt,  and  there  is  no  other  one  more  fully  up  to  the 
standard  than  this  one  of  drink.  At  the  commencement  of  a  drink- 
ing career  the  cost  is  comparatively  small,  but  as  the  poor  dupe 
advances,  the  expense  increases  in  a  ratio  almost  beyond  belief. 
It  finally  calls  for  the  all  of  its  devotees,  the  all  of  the  laborer,  the 
mechanic,  the  clerk,  the  merchant,  the  banker,  and  even  the  all  of 
the  millionaire  has  been  sacrified  as  the  price  demanded.  None  who 
follow  closely  in  the  wake  of  the  intoxicating  bowl  have  anything  to 
spare.  King  Alcohol  must  have  his  tribute,  and  to  that  end  he 
demands  the  last  farthing — then  sends  his  subjects  perigrinating  for 
more,  and  so  resolute  is  the  demand  that  dishonest  means  are  sought 

*  O 

out  wherein  to  replenish  the  exhausted  exchequer,  and  the  poor, 
deluded  imbecile  too  frequently  finds  only  the  felon's  cell  as  a 
return  for  his  assiduous  devotions  to  the  requirements  of  an 
unscrupulous  tyrant. 

But  prison  walls  confine  but  a  small  proportion,  for  very  many 
are  hidden  in  other  and  more  remote  recesses,  and  in  such  a  man- 
ner that  they  will  only  be  visible  when  the  last  trumpet  shall  call 
from  the  graves  their  slumbering  millions. 

The  ciruinstances  under  which  these  graves  were  occupied  will 
then  appear  more  vividly  than  at  any  other  or  former  period  ;  then 
will  be  felt  with  conscientious  dread  the  sequel  of  a  former  life's 
disipations.  While  the  horrors  of  such  a  life  as  the  drunkard  per- 
sues  here  are  daily  portrayed  to  our  view,  we  will  not  attempt  to 
follow  farther,  but  draw  a  veil  between  his  present  sufferings  and 
what  God  in  his  judment  may  see  proper  to  inflict  hereafter. 

I  remember  while  drinking  at  a  bar  in  Chicago  with  a  number  of 
acquaintances,  that  a  person,  at  that  time  unknown  to  me,  came  in 


EIGHTEEN  YEARS  OF  RECKLESSNESS.  19 

and  called  for  a  glass  of  whisky.  It  was  given  to  him,  and  wit 
trembling  hands  he  raised  the  poisoned  glass  to  his  lips,  when  sud- 
denly it  and  its  contents  fell  with  a  crash  to  the  floor.  A  look  of 
consternation  was  visible  upon  the  countenances  of  all  present,  as 
they  gazed  in  astonishment  at  the  victim  of  the  mishap.  With 
eyes  protruding  from  their  sockets,  and  mouth  .distended  to  its 
fullest  capacity,  as  soon  as  he  could  articulate  he  exclaimed: 

"Did  you  not  see  it  ?" 

But  none  knew  to  what  he  had  reference. 

"Why,  that  awful  reptile — that  snake  ;  you  all  must  have  seen  it. 
It  leaped  from  the  glass  to  my  face,  and  endeavored  to  enter  into 
my  mouth." 

He  was  subsequently  assisted  to  his  home  where  he  suffered  in 
terrible  agony  for  a  few  days,  when  he  died  declaring  that  thousands 
of  devils  were  dragging  him  off  to  their  home. 

This  case  is  by  no  means  an  isolated  one,  for  just  such  scenes  are 
occurring  every  day.  I  have  witnessed  others;  and  my  wife  in  my 
own  home  has  on  more  than  one  occasion  become  acquainted  with 
horrors  of  a  similar  nature. 

When  we  realize  that  countless  thousands  are  daily  suffering- 
these  torments,  does  it  not  seem  that  greater  effort  should  be  put 
forth  to  stay  the  destroyer  ?  There  are  none  but  know  of  acquaint- 
ances, and  many  even  friends  near  and  dear,  who  are  now  traveling; 
this  road,  or  having  passed  over  it,  have  terminated  their  lives  ii> 
the  pursuit  of  rum,  despite  its  tendencies  and  positive  results. 

I  spoke  ina  former  chapter  of  a  lecturing  tour.  While  absent 
from  home  on  that  occasion,  I  took  the  liberty  of  visiting  a  village  in 
which  I  had  resided  about  twenty-two  years  before.  Almost  my 
first  inquiries  upon  my  arrival  there  was  in  regard  to  the  where- 
abouts of  old  friends,  and  more  particular!}'  those  who  were  mj 
most  intimate  associates;  and  as  at  the  time  alluded  to  I  was  iii 
the  habit  of  indulging  in  the  wine  glass  I  very  naturally  inquired 
after  the  group  of  six  persons  who  were  my  boon  companions  iis 
the  pernicious  vice  of  dram-taking. 

"Where,"  said  I,  "is  F.,  the  genial  landlord  of  years  gone  by,  with 
whom  I  so  often  associated  at  the  bar  ''" 

"  Poor  F.,  he's  gone  ;  drink  killed  him,  and  his  body  lies  in  yonder 
hill-side  cemetery.  The  green  sod  that  now  covers  him  conceals  the 
remains  of  a  drunkard/' 


1<>  EIGHTEEN  YEARS  OF  RECKLESSNESS. 

"And  S.,  whose  bright  countenance  and  winning  smiles  were  so 
much  coveted,  where  is  he?" 

"  Poor  S.,  he  too,  lies  there;  whisky  cost  him  his  life." 

"  Well,  there  is  G.,  whose  fast  beams  it  was  always  a  pleasure  to 
ride  behind,  and  who  was  always  so  ready  to  join  in  the  social  glass  ; 
what  of  him  ?" 

."  He  lies  there  too ;  delirium  tremens  carried  him  to  the  hill-side 
home." 

"Now,  there  is  H.,  the  talented  young  lawyer,  with  whom  I  played 
,so  many  games  of  billiards  in  those  years  long  gone  by;  he  was  not 
a  hard  drinker,  and  must  be  all  right,  for  his  prospects  were,  so 
very  bright. " 

"  Yes,  but  he's  gone  ;  he  fills  a  drunkard's  grave  out  in  the  new 
State  of  Kansas." 

So  here  was  the  destiny  explained  of  four  of  our  company  of 
seven,  and  I  remember  how  thankful  I  felt  that  though  I  had 
passed  through  a  terrible  ordeal,  I  was  spared  the  sad,  sad  fate 
of  my  once  genial  and  loved  associates.  There  were  two  left,  but 
I  found  them  both  drunkards  ;  and  the  fate  of  those  just  alluded  to, 
and  all  the  entreaties  I  could  urge  were  insufficient  to  halt  them  in 
their  fast  hastening  steps  to  occupy  a  place  with  those,  and  under 
similar  circumstances,  that  were  lying  in  that  little  village  cem- 
etery. As  I  insisted  with  one  of  them  upon  the  necessity  of 
changing  his  course,  he  remarked  that  he  expected  to  die  in  the 
condition  he  then  was,  and  that  the  only  favor  he  had  to  ask  was 
that  he  might  die  drunk,  so  drunk  that  he  would  not  know  when  he 
was  passing  away.  When  the  future  was  alluded  to  he  remarked 
that  there  were  no  bright  anticipations  in  it  for  him ;  he  would 
like  to  go  to  heaven  to  meet  a  once  loved  wife  who  was  there,  but 
no,  he  could  not ;  he  would  never  see  her,  and  then  the  tears  stole 
unbidden  down  his  swollen  cheeks. 

The  remaining  one  would  not  acknowledge!  that  he  was  yet  a 
drunkard,  and  thought  it  still  time  enough  to  reform ;  but  in  all 
probability,  e'er  this  reaches  the  reader,  he  too,  lies  among  the  tomb 
stones,  and  his  epitaph  could  only  be  written  in  words  of  warning 
to  those  who  are  yet  left,^and  liable  to  be  claimed  as  victims  of  the 
abhorring,  soul:-destroying  creature — Rum. 


CHAPTER  V. 

t 

Were  I  to  say  that  this  evil  extends  to  a  great  extent  anionglthe 

fairer  sex,  I  might  be  considered  as  exaggerating,  but  facts  from 
official  statements  cannot  be  denied,  and  from  these  we  are  made 
fully  aware  of  the  spread  of  intemperance  in  this  direction.  In 
Europe  it  is  probably  largely  in  excess  of  our  own  country,  or  at 
least  the  fact  has  become  more  publicly  established, 

At  a  meeting  recently  held  in  London  under  the  direction  of  the 
Mayor,  called  with  a  view  of  establishing  homes  for  the  reforma- 
tion of  women  who  are  habitual  drunkards,  some  startling  facts- 
were  promulgated.  They  were,  that  an  alarming  increase  of  drunk- 
enness was  perceptible  in  that  metropolis,  as  rnuchj  among  woinen. 
as  men. 

An  examination  of  statistics  showed  that  in  1874,  4,480  women, 
were  committed  to  one  prison  for  drunkenness,  and  that  every  one- 
of  them  had  been  repeatedly  committed  and  punished  for  the  same 
offense.  Eighty  per  cent,  of  the  general  committals  to  English 
prisons  were  caused  by  drink.  A  report  of  the  keeper  of  another 
jail  showed  that  out  of  10,000  committals  to  the  prison  for  drunk- 
enness within  a  given  period,  8,000  were  females.  The  person  in 
charge  of  Newgate  stated  that  out  of  twelve  persons  convicted  of 
murder  within  a  year,  only  one  case  was  unconnected  with  drink. 
It  is  said  that  you  can  find  more  examples  of  intoxication  in  one 
evening's  walk  in  the  back  slums  of  London  than  you  will  even 
find  in  New  York  in  a  month,  but  we  may  only  consider  that  this 
is  because  in  London  there  is  more  publicity  than  in  this  country, 
for  here  the  drinking  to  excess,  particularly  in  females,  is  very  much 
within  doors,  while  there  no  such  secret  is  made  of  it.  Gin  and 
whisky  are  as  freely  drank  there  as  beer  is  here,  and  the  result  is. 
an  augmentation  of  disease  and  crime  fearful  to  contemplate.  The 
increase  of  restaurants,  gin- palaces,  bars,  and  all  kinds  of  spirit  and 
wine  stores,  is  simply  enormous.  Since  the  scattering  of  wine 
licenses  broadcast  over  the  country  tippling  on  the  part  of  ladies 
has  largely  increased.  They  drink  at  the  confectioneries — at  candy 


22  EIGHTEEN  YEARS  OF  RECKLESSNESS. 

shops,  and  at  the  grocery  stores.  The  law-makers  thought  that  if 
•drink  could  be  got  easily  everywhere,  the  temptation  to  use  it 
•would  diminish.  They  attempted  to  check  the  growing  sin  of 
drunkenness,  but  the  giant  evil  inarches  on  through  the  breadth  of 
that  land  a  national  blight,  ruining  more  people  than  fall  in  a  com- 
anercial  crisis,  slaying  more  people  than  a  pestilence. 

That  ladies  much  nearer  home  become  intoxicated,  I  was  made 
aware  a  long  time  since.  Years  ago  my  wife,  through  the  advice 
of  attending  physicians,  used  London  porter,  ale,  beer  and  wine,  for 
ibe  purpose  of  recuperating  wasted  strength.  At  this  date  it  was 
jay  custom  to  frequently  supply  the  dinner  table  with  lager  beer 
for  my  own  use,  and  there  was  no  particular  objection  to  it  by  any 
iirectly  interested. 

Upon  a  particular  occasion  it  occurred  to  me  that  I  would  like 
•very  much  to  observe  how  intoxication  would  affect  my  better  half; 
and  to  accomplish  this  I  urged  the  drinking  to  excess  upon  her  part. 
I  had  not  long  to  wait,  for  soon  the  eyes  and  countenance  betokened 
that  the  gratification  of  my  desires  were  closely  at  hand.  Soon 
after  making  the,  then  happy,  discovery,  she  left  the  seat  she  had 
l)een  occupying,  arid  approached  a  toilet  stand  upon  which  rested  a 
new  hat,  that  had  been  purchased  a  few  days  previous  for  herself, 
and  at  no  inconsiderable  expense.  Taking  this  in  her  hands  it  was 
remarked  that  a  certain  flower  did  not  seem  to  be  just  the  thing, 
and  with  a  jerk  it  was  off  the  hat  and  upon  the  floor;  then  another, 
and  another  followed  for  the  same  reason,  until  only  the  straw 
l>ody  of  the  hat  remained.  Putting  this  upon  her  head  and  view- 
Ing  the  appearance  in  a  mirror,  she  exclaimed  : 

"0,  'pshaw  !  this  don't  become  me  ;  I  wont  have  it !" 

It  was  soon  in  tatters  and  lying  with  the  trimmings.  Without 
uttering  a  word,  she  left  the  room,  but  soon  appeared  with  a  dust- 
pan and  broom,  and  carefully  sweeping  up  the  debris  deposited  it  in 
the  ash-box,  an  utterly  useless  article. 

I  never  repeated  this  experiment,  as  once  convinced  me  that  if  in 
no  other  way  detrimental,  she  would  prove  a  too  extravagant  sub- 
ject to  be  farther  initiated. 

I  was  well  aquainted,  in  my  native  city,  with  a  prominent  news- 
dealer whose  wife,  at  one  time,  was  an  ornament  to  society,  an  affec- 
tionate wife  and  mother,  but  who,  from  the  simple  means  of  using 
strong  drink  at  the  table  became  an  outcast. 


EIGHTEEN  YEARS  OF  RECKLESSNESS.  23 

In  passing  at  one  time  so  that  the  back-yard  of  their  place  was 
exposed  to  view,  I  discovered  lying  there  upon  the  damp  earth  the 
prostrate  form  of  an  unconsious  female.  I  immediately  entered 
the  premises,  and  made  Mr.  F.  acquainted  with  my  discovery,  when 
to  my  amazement  he  leisurly  remarked  : 

''Why,  it's  my  wife,  is  it  not?  " 

,,Your  wife,"  I  exclaimed ;  "What  has  happened,  that  she  lies 
there  ?" 

"Oh,  she's  only  on  one  of  her  drunken  sprees,  that's  all." 

Then  he  told  me  how  she  would  obtain  whisky,  and  drink  until 
she  could  no  longer  stand  and  then  lie  just  where  she  happened  to 
fall.  He  said  that  he  had  done  all  he  could  for  her,  but  she  had 
become  so  disgusting  that  he  only  pretended  to  keep  her  out  of  the 
street,  and  that  in  that  he  was  not  always  successful. 

There  is  in  Chicago  an  institution  known  as  the  Washingtonian 
Home,  an  asylum  for  the  reformation  of  those  who  drink  to  excess. 
A  branch  of  this  Home  was  established  for  the  treatment  of  females. 
To  this  asylum  the  woman  was  finally  taken,  but  with  all  the  care 
and  surveillance  that  was  there  observed  Mrs.  F.  would  succeed  in 
making  her  escape,  and  quite  often  be  found  in  the  streets  in  a 
state  of  stupid  intoxication. 

In  visiting  this  place  I  have  seen  there  those  whose  features  still 
bore  traces  of  former  beauty ;  those  possessed  by  nature  with  true 
womanly  virtues — intellectual  eyes,  and  those  who  were  once  a 
husband's  pride,  and  the  little  prattler's  darling  mother;  yet  in  all 
was  discernable  the  ruinous  effects  of  dissipation.  What  a  spec- 
tacle this  was  to  me ;  and  then  to  add  stil  greater  horror  to  the 
situation  was  to  ascertain  from  their  own  lips  that  many  of  them 
still  possessed  indulgent  husbands  and  affectionate  children,  whose 
only  disgrace  was,  that  the  wife  and  mother  who  had  given  her 
offspring  birth,  and  should  protect  and  counsel  them,  was  but  a  poor 
imprisoned  inebriate. 

But  do  not  think  for  a  moment  that  the  inmates  here  were  prin- 
cipally gathered  from  the  slums,  the  high-ways,  the  alleys,  and 
from  the  lower  or  middle  ranks  of  society,  for  this  would  be  a  mis- 
take. There  were  those  there  who  had  left  palatial  mansions  sit- 
uated upon  the  fashionable  avenues,  and  whose  homes  were  sur- 
rounded with  all  the  evidences  of  luxury,  comfort  and  wealth. 
These  patients  were  not  visible  to  the  prying  eyes  of  the  vis- 


24  EIGHTEEN  YEAttS  OF  RECKLESSNESS. 

itor,  and  even  their  intimate  friends  were  led  to  believe  that  they 
were  enjoying  the  societ}*"  of  friends  at  a  distance,  while  in  reality 
they  were  imprisoned,  and  being  restrictedin  their  appetite — using 
physicians'  remedies  to  overcome  this  apparently  uncontrollable 
gigantic  evil — this  unprecedented  destroyer  of  happiness,  of  per- 
sons, and  of  homes. 

It  is  said  the  reformation  of  females  is  even  more  doubtful  and 
hazardous  than  that  of  men,  but  be  that  as  it  may,  none  of 
either  sex  are  so  far  depraved  as  to  be  beyond  the  hope  of  reforma- 
tion, yet  we  often  hear  it  remarked  that  such  and  such  an  one  is  too 
far  gone  to  be  worth  saving.  And  though  sometimes  it  seems  really  as 
if  there  might  be  some  truthfulness  in  the  remark  so  far  as  some 
individuals  are  concerned,  still  it  should  be  remembered  that  while 
life  remains,  hope  exists. 

Probably  there  are  but  few  who  have  arrived  at  years  of  maturity 
who  cannot  recall  some  one  as  a  former  old  drunkard,  who  is  now 
an  exemplary  member  of  society. 

There  are  so  many  ways  of  divesting  the  destroyer  of  his  charm 
that  no  stone  should  be  left  unturned  to  accomplish  the  object. 

I  remember  of  an  eminent  divine,  well  known  at  the  East  many 
years  ago,  whose  downfall  and  rise  will  fully  illustrate  the  point  we 
are  attempting  to  establish.  He  was  a  clergyman  of  fortune,  posi 
tion  and  reputation  when  he  lost  his  only  daughter  by  a  violent 
death,  and  began  to  drink  to  drown  his  sorrow.  It  was  in  vain 
that  his  wife  and  friends  opposed,  remonstrated,  implored,  and  per- 
suaded ;  he  drank  011,  the  appetite  steadily  increasing,  until  he 
became  its  slave.  His  congregation  dismissed  him ;  his  wife  died  of 
a  broken  heart ;  he  squandered  his  fortune,  lost  his  friends,  and  at 
last  became  in  some  capacity  connected  with  a  low  city  paper  through 
means  of  which  he  gained  a  precarious  livelihood.  From  bad  to  worse 
he  swept  down  rapidly,  and  for  some  offense,  committed  while  drunk, 
was  sent  at  last  for  six  months  to  State  Prison.  On  getting  out  and 
returning  to  New  York  city  he  became  a  fish  peddler,  drinking  des- 
perately all  the  time.  One  day  while  drunk  he  was  injured  and 
taken  to  the  hospital,  where  he  was  recognized  by  the  attending  doc- 
tor, and  finally  sent  to  an  inebriate  asylum.  He  remained  there  six 
months,  went  away,  relapsed,  and  was  returned  by  his  friend. 

A  year  later  he  came  to  the  West  to  begin  life  anew.  Beginning 
in  a  small  church  in  Iowa  as  pastor,  he  became  in  a  few  years  one 


EIGHTEEN  YEARS  OF  RECKLESSNESS.  25 

of  the  leading  men,  and  finally  President  of  a  college.  Last  year 
he  died;  a  man  renowned  and  regarded  as  the  ablest  divine  of  the 
section  in  which  lived.  Among  his  papers  were  found  some  of  the 
facts  concerning  his  early  struggles,  in  which  he  gratefully  acknowl- 
edged the  wisdom  of  his  old  friend,  in  forcibly  removing  him  from 
temptation,  which  was  seemingly  to  him  the  only  possible  way  in 
which  he  could  escape. 

This  is  but  an  isolated  case  out  of  many  in  which  a  worthless  life 
has  been  turned  to  one  of  usefulness,  and  that,  too,  by  the  very  simple 
means  employed  by  an  old  friend  of  former  years.  It  has  been 
truly  remarked  that  even  in  the  heart  of  an  inebriate  there  is  a 
tender  spot,  and  that  though  obscured  by  cobwebs,  the  proper  search 
will  be  successful  in  ferreting  it  out. 


CHAPTER  VI 

It  is  not  alone  in  the  saloon  that  drinking  is  done,  nor  is  it  upon 
this  class  of  vendors  alone  that  the  curse  of  the  community  should 
fall.  There  are  other  resorts,  and  those,  too,  that  are  palaces  com- 
pared to  the  dives  that  are  the  haunts  of  the  lower  class  of  drink- 
ers ;  and  where  the  more  fashionable  of  the  present  day  drain  the 
•cup's  dregs  to  their  hearts'  content.  It  is  where  under  its  cover  of 
innocence  is  flaunted  to  the  breeze,  the  guilded  device  of  '"drugs  and 
medicines."  There  it  is  that  millions,  unsuspicioned,  become 
trained  for,  and  remain  servants  of,  that  abhorring  and  tyranical  mas- 
ter. These  falsely  named  palaces  of  corruption  are,  by  our  wise 
legislators,  given  permission  to  sell  distilled  spirits  for  sacramental, 
culinary,  and  medical  purposes  ;  and  what  a  wide  scope  this  covers. 
The  first  may  very  nearly  be  reckoned  as  a  relic  of  by  gone  days,  and 
should  only  be  remembered  and  characterized  as  of  mythological 
origin,  for  God-loving  and  fearing  people  have  learned  not  to  tempt 
at  the  altar  with  that  from  the  effects  of  which  they  seek  to  save. 
The  second  has  its  thousands  of  votaries,  for  culinary  means,  as 
used  for  home  consumption,  and  to  be  sold  and  purchased  by  the 
pint,  quart,  etc,,  to  be  kept  in  a  convenient  place  for  cooking — most 
particularly  the  vitals  of  tbe  lord  of  the  household.  But  the  medic- 
inal is  by  far  the  most  to  be  apprehended',  for  this  is  a  provision  for 
those  who  are  ill;  and  it  would  surprise  those  not  initiated,  especially 
in  no-license  towns,  to  see  the  number  of  invalids,  and  to  know  the 
intricate  diseases  for  which  whisky  is  the  sovereign  panacea.  Those 
little  prescriptions  are  the  only  one  thing  necessary;  and  then  how 
easily  the  physician  can  be  persuaded  to  prescribe,  allowing  the 
patient  to  do  the  diagnosing  and  with  positiveness  recommend  the 
remedy. 

I  remember  while  living  in  Iowa,  in  a  town  where  the  ardent 
could  only  be  had  through  the  medium  just  alluded  to,  and  as  an 
extreme  resort,  I  was  obliged  to  feign  sickness  to  secure  the  remedy 
I  stood  so  much  in  need  of.  It  became  tedious,  unpleasant,  and 
•expensive  to  get  a  prescription  for  a  pint  of  "medicine"  daily — the 


EIGHTEEN  YEARS  OF  BECKLE5SXESS.  27 

price  for  each  being  the  same — sol  concluded  to  take  a  different  tack. 
I  summoned  up  all  the  courage  and  brazen  effrontry  I  could  com- 
mand, and  visited  my  physician  ;  and  to  him  I  confided  rny  troubles, 
by  detailing  how  inconvenient  to  myself  as  well  as  annoying  to  him 
it  was  to  be  obliged  to  get  a  prescription  so  often  ;  and  I  told  him 
that  to  save  both,  if  he  would  give  me  a  document  for  a  pint  of 
whisky,  good  daily,  for  a  year,  at  the  drug  store,  I  would  pay  him 
for  his  services  in  advance,  or  at  least  I  would  pay  him  five  dollars 
for  doing  so  This,  of  course,  he  could  do,  as  he  knew  my  ailment, 
and  the  remedy.  After  meditating  for  a  few  moments,  and  glancing 
at  the  money  which  I  was  shrewd  enough  to  expose  to  his  grasping 
gaze,  he  wrote  and  handed  me  the  following  : 

"W.  &  B.,  Druggists  and  Apothecaries, 

Prescription  No.  22314. 

For  W.  C.  Cotes, 

Spts.  Frumenti,     -    -  -  0. 

Once  daily  for  a  year. 

H B ,  M.  D. 

With  this  in  my  possession,  I  was,  perhaps,  one  of  the  happiest 
individuals  in  that  little  hawkeye  village,  being  now  enabled  to  keep 
saturated  without  inconvenience  or  the  risk  of  exposure.  Of  course 
the  druggists  were  elated,  for  they  were  positive  that  so  much  more 
business  was  assured,  and  the  sum  of  one  hundred  and  eighty -two  dol- 
lars during  the  year  from  one  old  toper  was  a  matter  of  no  small  con- 
sideration. 

Speaking  of  of  this  class  of  community,  I  am  reminded  that  it  is  a 
fact  that  a  drink  indulging-man  must  very  often  resort  to  them,  or 
their  phraseology,  as  necessary  companions.  It  is  a  fact  well  estab- 
lished that  they  and  the  druggist  should  be  "stood  in  with,"  for  their 
mutual  enmity  would  frequently  prove  very  disastrous  to  man's 
attempt  at  demoralization. 

I  remember  well  that  while,  a  few  years  ago,  I  was  traveling  through 
the  State  just  referred  to,  writing  the  histories  of  small  and  new  towns, 
the  frequent  "liberality"  of  doctors  was  a  source  of  great  comfort  to 
myself.  The  law  of  Iowa  did  then,  and  does  still,  prohibit  the  sale  of 
the  stronger  stimulants,  and  only  wine,  beer,  and  cider,  when  the 
officers  of  corporations  saw  proper  to  allow  it.  As  a  consequence 
in  many  places  no  minor  drinks,  even,  were  to  be  had,  which  tended 
to  place  the  thirsting  individual  in  rather  a  bad  predicament.  In  one 


28  EIGHTEEN  YEARS  OF  RECKLESSNESS. 

small  town,  that  of  Mitchell,  in  the  central  part  of  the  State,  I  found 
not  only  a  temperance  town,  but  in  it  a  temperance  drug  store.  The 
only  way  in  which  the  proprietor  could  remain  in  the  place  was  by 
selling  his  whisky  to  the  citizens,  and  then  pouring  it  into  the  street; 
I  seemed  to  very  suddenly  conclude  that  the  atmosphere  of  the  town 
was  of  such  a  nature  that  it  would  not  be  agreeable  for  me  to  remain 
there,  so  returning  to  the  hotel  I  pumped  the  host  as  to  his  private 
bottle.  Having  ascertained  that  he  did  not  keep  such  accommoda- 
tions, I  inquired : 

"When  does  the  next  train  leave  ?" 

"Which  way  ?" 

"Either." 

"Well,  'lem  me  see ;  it's  now  quarter  till  twelve,  'an  it'l  be  nearly 
six  to-night." 

"Is  there  no  way  of  getting  to  the  little  town  we  passed  a  short  dis- 
tance east,  where  I  saw  a  large  number  of  beer  kegs  near  tne  depot  ?" 

"Only  one  that  I  can  think  on  :  I  pee  the  section  boss  and  his  men 
near  the  depot;  they  go  there  to  dinner.". 

"Think  he  would  let  me  ride  ?" 

"Reckon  not ;  it's  agin  the  rules," 

Taking  up  my  satchel,  I  was  soon  at  the  depot,  and  accosting  that 
august  individual,  the  "section  boss,"  I  inquired  as  to  the  possibilities 
of  a  passage. 

He  said,  too,  that  it  was  "agin  the  rules." 

I  pleaded  sickness,  the  loss  of  my  pocket  book,  and  used  every 
plea  I  could  think  of  to  soften  his  hard  heart,  but  all  was  unavailing 
until  I  slipped  three  dollars  into  the  palm  of  his  hand.  Then  he  said : 

"'Spose  if  you  git  on  I  dassent  throw  you  off." 

I  arrived  all  right,  and  it  seemed  to  me  that  at  no  time  in  my  life 
was  my  happiness  so  complete  as  when  upon  that  occasion  I  stood  upon 
the  threshold  of  a  rum  hole. 

In  another  town  that  I  visited  I  ascertained  that  the  dram  could  be 
had  only  at  the  drug  store,  and  that  it  was  very  difficult  to  get  it  even 
there,  as  no  doctor  in  the  place  would  unnecessarily  give  a  prescrip- 
tion. I  was  again  put  to  my  wits'  end,  but  finally  taking  a  piece  ot 
paper  wrote  the  regular  frumentum  formula,  signing  my  own 
name,  with  the  appendage  of  M.  D.  The  druggist  took  it,  read  it, 
and  then  casting  a  knowing  glance  at  my  whisky-speaking  counten- 
ance said: 


EIGHTEEN  YEARS  OF  RECKLESSNESS.  29 

"Are  you  a  practicing  physician  ? 

"lam  a  physician." 

"Are  you  not  the  gentleman  that  is  talking  of  writing  up  our  little 
town  ?" 

"Yes  sir,  I  am  more  latterly  acting   in  the  capacity   of  a  literary 
character,  as  it  seems  to  be  better  adapted  to  my  nature." 

"I  would  not  be  so  inquisitive,  but  we  must  be  ve*y  particular,  as  I 
have  been  taken  in  by  such  means,  and  do  not  intend  to  be  again." 

"Ah,"  said  I,  "I  see,  some  one  has   personated   the    role  of  M.  D. 
who  was  not  entitled  to." 

"That's  it  exactly,  and  I  have  resolved  to  be  on  my  guard  in  the 
future." 

"Well  air,  I  think  that  a  man  who  would  so  deceive  is  unworthy  of 
credence,  and  hanging  would  be  none  too  good  for  him ;  and  to  convince 
you  that  7am  no  such  ingrate,  I  will  just  step  over  to  the  hotel  and 
bring  you  my  diploma  from  "old  Rush."  I  always  carry  it  with  me, 
for  I  frequently  find  opportunities  for  relieving  distress  in  my  travels, 
and  I  can  assure  you  that  nothing  gives  me  more  pleasure  than  to 
arrive  just  at  the  opportune  moment  to  render  that  relief,  which  quite 
often  proves  even  unthanked-for  assistance.  I  will  go  over  and  get  it, 
so  you  may  know  that,  at  least,  Jam  honest ! ' ' 

"Oh,  never  mind  ;  I  am  satisfied  from  your  conversation  and  gen- 
tlemanly deportment  that  you  are  not  practicing  deception." 

My  "honesty"  overcame  his  scruples,  and  I  left  with  the  coveted 
prize. 

I  can  conceive  of  only  one  thing  that  a  person  would  resort  to  so 
many  subterfuges  to  obtain  as  whisky,  and  that  is  food,  when  the 
gnawings  of  hunger  have  continued  for  a  period  almost  beyond  endu- 
rance. It  is  the  one  thing  only,  for  which,  Esau-like,  a  man  would  sell 
his  birthright. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

"  Birds  of  a  feather,  flock  together,"  is  an  old  and  very  true  adage 
and  I  think  the  truth  is  nowhere  more  discernable  than  with  the  class 
who  use  stimulants.  This  has  already  been  alluded  to  in  my  individ- 
ual case.  Many  incidents  might  be  related  to  illustrate  this,  but  one 
or  two  will  be  sufficient  for  the  purpose  of  showing,  not  only  this,  but 
that  we  conform  to  the  company  we  keep. 

While  living  in  one  of  the  smaller  towns  in  the  Sucker  State  it  was 
a  custom  to  take  Sunday  for  an  especial  drinking  day,  not  but  that 
the  six  days  were  fully  appropriated,  but  that  more  attention  could  be 
given  to  the  matter  for  a  whole  day,  and  that  "witb.  none  to  molest  or 
make  afraid." 

Upon  a  certain  first  day  of  the  week,  myself  and  three  others,  sim- 
ilarly inclined,  procured  the  necessary  filled  hnttlos.  and  concluded  to 
hie  away  to  the  woods  for  a  carnival  occasion.  Drinking,  singing, 
spinning  yarns,  etc.,  consumed  the  time  till  one  of  our  number 
happened  to  discover  a  cheese  factory,  an  institution  that  numerously 
abounds  in  many  sections  of  the  West.  It  was  proposed,  discussed 
and  resolved,  that  cheese  curd  would  be  an  excellent  article  with 
which  to  make  a  grand  lunch.  Accordingly  the  precincts  of  the  lacteal- 
fluid-compressing  establishment  were  duly  invaded,  and  in  a  short 
time  four  individuals  were  filled  with  the  desired  "curd."  After  quit- 
ting the  place,  and  walking  a  short  distance,  it  was  discovered  that  the 
mixing  of  the  ingredients,  for  some  nnassigned  reason,  established  the 
fact  in  our  minds  that  we  were  very  uncomfortable,  and  that  the  mat- 
ter of  navigation  was  becoming  so  much  impeded,  that  further  pro- 
gress was  a  matter  fast  assuming  positiveness. 

Reaching  a  main  traveled  road,  it  was  decided  to  take  the  only  alter- 
native, and  lying  down  beside  a  fence,  concluded  to  let  time  remove 
the  obstacle  that  forced  us  to  succumb. 

How  long  we  lay  there  enjoying  a  drunken  sleep  we  never  knew, 
neither  is  it  positive  how  much  longer  we  would  have  slumbered  on  had 
we  remained  undisturbed.  But  this  was  not  our  good  fortune. 

•I  was  aroused  by  a  vigorous  pecking  at  my  face  and  mouth,  and  as  in 


EIGHTEEN  YEARS  OF  RECKLESSNESS.  31 

my  nap  I  had  dreamed  of  being  a  prisoner  among  Indians,  and  they 
were  extratcing  my  moustache,  a  hair  at  a  time,  I  was  anxious  as  to 
the  possible  reality.  But  the  discovery  made  was  that  hens  and  tur- 
keys from  the  neighboring  farm  house  were  busy  at  our  faces,  and  a 
more  close  observation  made  it  apparent  that  cheese  curd,  though  taken 
second-handed,  was  a  luxury  appreciated,  even  by  fowls.  The  mat- 
ter might  have  passed  off  as  a  good  joke  among  ourselves,  but  to  «iy 
great  chagrin,  attention  was  attracted  by  laughing  and  tittering,  which, 
it  was  discovered,  proceeded  from  a  party  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  road,  who,  as  they  were  passing  home  from 
church  were  made  innocent  spectators  to  our  unfortunate  predic- 
ament. 

At  another  time  and  place,  and  when  I  was  not  under  the  influence 
of  drink,  I  was  passing  leisurely  along  through  a  piece  of  timber,  more 
for  a  pasttime  than  for  any  particular  object,  when  my  attention  was 
attracted  by  a  party  of  three  young  men  a  short  distance  in  advance  of 
me  in  the  road.  At  this  then  distance  their  actions  were  unaccounta- 
bly strange,  and  a  nearer  approach  influenced  the  belief  that  they  were- 
lunatics  escaped  from  some  asylum.  As  I  finally  reached  the  spot  I 
perceived  that  the  trio  were  personal  friends,  but  their  acting  in  the 
manner  in  which  they  did  was  a  problem,  the  solution  of  which  was 
beyond  my  comprehension. 

In  the  road  was  a  literal  mud-hole  filled  at  least  to  the  depth  of 
eighteen  inches.  Into  and  through  this  they  were  passing  back  and 
forth.  Upon  inquiry  as  to  the  cause  of  such  demonstrations,  I  was 
informed  that  they  were  having  a  jolly  good  time — more  sport  than 
they  had  enjoyed  for  a  long  time. 

This  performance,  however,  was  more  easily  accounted  for  when- 
came  to  me  the  interrogatory  : 

•'Take  a  smile,  Cotes  ?  " 

As  it  was  in  accordance  with  a  long  established  precedent  not  to 
refuse  such  an  offer,  I  readily  acceded.  The  beverage  was  taken  from, 
a  gallon  jug  which  for  obvious  reasons  was  secreted  in  the  roots  of  an 
old  tree.  After  the  "smile"  had  circulated  through  my  system  and 
began  its  effects  upon  the  brain,  I  was  so  much  infatuated  witk  the  con- 
tinued ludicrous  performance  as  to  countenance  it. 

After  a  second  invitation  to  "liquor-up"  had  been  accepted,  I  really 
became  so  interested  as  to  give  a  smiling  approval. 

The  third  round  was  sufficient  to  make  me  very  enthusiastic  in  the- 


32  EIGHTEEN  YEARS  OF  RECKLESSNESS. 

business  of  mud  splashing  and  bedaubing;  but  the  fourth  "dig"  at 
"the  little  brown  jug,"  was  too  much  to  allow  me  longer  to  remain  an 
idle  spectator,  and  seeing  through  eyes  whose  actuated  vision  was 
influenced  by  the  same  agency  as  theirs,  I  was  soon  a  willing  partici- 
pant, running  through  this  pool  until  completely  covered  from  head  to 
feot.  When  we  could  no  longer  wade  on  account  of  the  influence 
exerted  by  the  jug's  contents,  we  laid  in  it — rolled  over  in  it,  and 
finally  lay  down  and  slept  near  the  spot  which,  to  a  drunkard,  would 
be  commemorative  of  a  grand  festive  occasion. 

Many  scenes  passed  through  under  similar  circumstances  to  this,  do 
not  turn  out  as  harmlass  in  the  results,  but  produce  consequences 
frequently  much  more  disastrous  in  their  nature  or  effects. 

At  one  time  I  had  been  from  home  for  several  days  upon  the  legiti- 
mate business  I  was  then  following,  when,  as  the  day  approached  for 
my  return  home,  after  finishing  up  my  business  in  a  small  town,  I 
betook  myself  to  the  "filling  up"  which  was  usual  under  such  circum- 
stances. I  drank  hard  (or  rather  easy,  for  it  was  no  difficult  task  for 
me)  during  the  day,  and  as  the  time  in  the  afternoon  came  for  the  train 
to  leave,  I  was  pretty  well  saturated.  But  as  I  attempted  to  abstain 
for  the  day  or  two  that  I  would  remain  at  home,  it  was  my  conviction 
that  I  should  absorb  sufficient  to  last  for  that  length  of  time.  Being 
then  in  a  condition  that  may  be  imagined,  I  secured  a  flask  of  whisky 
to  use  on  my  homeward  journey.  As  the  locomotive  sounded  the  sig- 
nal that  we  were  approaching  my  home,  I  ascertained  that  I  had  still 
left  in  my  bottle,  one  or  two  good  drin  ks  ;  and  as  it  was  too  precious 
to  be  lost  I  concluded  to  use  it  up  to  the  dregs,  and  did  so. 

It  was  in  the  month  of  December,  and  most  fearfully  cold,  with  a 
high  wind  blowing  that  added  much  to  the  severity  of  the  weather.  I 
remember,  as  I  alighted  from  the  cars,  that  I  was  surprised  at  finding 
that  I  did  not  appear  intoxicated,  and  how  with  rapid  strides,  I  under- 
took, by  going  "cross  lots"  to  reach  my  residence.  All  at  once,  as 
suddenly  almost  as  an  electric  shock,  I  found  myself  staggering — my 
head  whirling,  and  getting  hold  of  a  friendly  fence  tried  to  make  my 
way  forward  by  utilizing  that,  but  my  limbs  utterly  refused  to  perform 
their  functions. 

I  appreciated  in  these  awful  moments  my  exact  condition — that  I 
could  stand  even  "By  the  aid  of  the  fence  but  a  few  moments  longer — 
that  it  was  late  at  night,  and  that  finally  I  would  freeze  to  death.  A 


EIGHTEEN  YEARS  OF  RECKLESSNESS.  33 

street  of  the  town  was  but  a  short  distance  otf,  and  the  last  I  remem- 
ber was  attempting  to  reach  it — that  I  fell  from  the  fence,  and  real- 
izing my  position,  was  endeavoring  to  crawl  on  my  hands  and 
knees  to  the  sidewalk  in  hopes  of  being  spared  the  death  that  seem- 
ed so  imminent 

Between  twelve  and  one  o'clock  of  that  dreadful  night  I  was 
awakened,  as  if  from  a  sound  slumber ;  but  it  was  long  before  I 
could  understand  the  seeming  confusion  of  voices  about  me,  and  the 
attempt  of  persons  to  interfere  with  my  rest  Suddenly  a  fan: 
voice  called  my  name,  and  upon  opening  my  eyes  that  same  voice 
was  heard  to  exclaim  in  ringing  accents  : 

"He's  saved  !  He's  saved  !" 

I  was  in  the  business  place  of  a  friend  who,  as  he  was  going  home 
late  at  night,  found  ine  lying  across  his  path,  and  summoning  help 
had  me  taken  where  I  found  myself.  He,  a  physician,  and  others, 
had  restored  me  to  life,  even  after  it  had  been  declared  the  vital 
spark  had  taken  flight. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

In  the  summer  of  1862  the  most  patriotic  appeals  were  made  for 
men  to  fill  up  the  depleted  ranks  of  the  regiments  of  those  who  so 
nobly  were  contending  for  that  perfect  freedom  wisely  guaran- 
teed by  the  constitution  of  the  country,  and  for  which,  under  the 
same  nag,  our  forefathers  had  "fought  bled  and  died  to  preserve." 

At  this  period  of  my  life  I  had  become  so  dissipated  that  I  was 
neither  ornamental  nor  useful ;  and  enthused  either  with  patriotism^ 
love  of  romance,  or  the  more  positive  assurance  of  bread  and  butter, 
(hard- tack  and  bacon),  I  was  one  to  endorse  the  call  for  "three  hun- 
dred thousand  more."  Accordingly  on  the  22d  day  of  August  of 
that  year,  I  subscribed  to  the  muster  roll  of  the  Chicago  Mercantile 
Battery.  The  only  objection  made  to  this  proceeding  by  some  of 
my  staunchest  friends  was  that  if  the  bullets  of  the  Confederates 
did  not  kill  me,  commissary  whisky  would.  How  near  their  prog- 
nostications came  to  being  truthful,  the  sequel  will  more  fully  show. 

With  the  dying  out  of  the  year  of  '62  and  the  ushering  in  of  the 
one  to  succeed,  the  company  to  which  I  was  attached,  retreated 
from  the  Yazoo  Swamps  in  Mississippi,  after  making  the  first, 
though  unsuccessful  assault,  on  that  citadel  of  rebel  strongholds — 
Vicksburg.  Orders  were  received  from  the  commanding  General, 
W.  T.  Sherman,  to  move  as  noiselessly  as  possible — not  even  a  word 
to  be  spoken  above  a  whisper. 

The  retreat  was  made  through  dense  woods,  in  utter  darkness, 
in  mud  to  the  depth  of  a  foot,  and  in  many  places  much  deeper. 


EIGHTEEN  YEARS  OF  RECKLESSNESS.  35 

It  was  a  hard  nights'  work  for  the  initiation  of  the  Batteiy  into 
the  service  of  Uncle  Sam,  we  often  being  obliged  to  double  teams, 
it  requiring  sixteen  horses  to  draw  out  a  "stuck"  gun  or  caisson. 
It  took  up  the  time  till  daylight  next  morning  to  reach  the  Missis- 
sippi river,  a  distance  of  seven  miles.  When  we  arrived  there  the 
•'boys"  were  very  much  fatigued,  and  though  wounds  had  been 
escaped,  a  general  feeling  prevailed  among  many  that  it  would  be 
agreeable  then  to  be  "shot  in  the  neck." 

At  this  point  the  troops  were  to  take  transports,  and  the  one 
assigned  our  company  happened  to  be  a  commissary  boat,  which, 
among  other  of  its  stores,  carried  whisky  for  the  sick,  and  the—- 
officers. 

It  was  a  solid  consolation  to  exhausted  nature  to  find  on  board 
a  bar  in  full  blast.  But  not  many  potations  were  had  before  our 
Captain  ordered  it  closed.  Then  a  barrel,  the  contents  of  which 
was  suspicioned,  and  belonging  to  the  bar,  was  made  a  target  of, 
which  practice  soon  caused  its  removal.  Enough,  however,  of  the 
ardent  had  been  imbibed  to  produce  longing  for  more,  but  where  or 
how  to  get  it  was  as  yet  an  unsolved  mystery. 

It  was  subsequently  discovered  that  a  tarpaulin  in  the  cabin  cov- 
ered a  row  of  forty  or  fifty  barrels  of  whisky,  that  extended  nearly 
the  entire  length  of  the  deck  ;  but  how  to  get  at  their  contents 
was  what  seemed  to  puzzle  the  brains  of  the  would  be  absorbers  ; 
but  as  perseverance  accomplishes  wonders,  it  was  not  in  this  case 
allowed  to  be  made  an  exception. 

Quite  late  in  the  evening,  as  I  was  standing  upon  the  guards  of 
the  boat,  an  inividual.  hailing  from  the  Badger  State,  and  known 
in  the  company  as  "Chinese,"  approached  me  with  the  information 
that  he  had  news  to  communicate.  I  remarked  to  him  that  his 
tell-tale  breath  had  already  convinced  me  of  the  fact. 

"Come  with  me,"  he  said,  "and  you  shall  have  all  the  drink  you 
wish  for." 

I  followed  to  the  cabin  where  the  innocent  members  were  then 
lying  asleep  upon  the  floor,  their  heads  being  to  the  side  of  the  boat, 
with  army  boots  for  a  pillow,  and  their  feet  towards  the  barrels. 
But  "Chinese"  had  reversed  this  state  of  things,  and  with  a  knowing 
wink  requested  me  to  "bunk"  with  him. 

We  lay  down  on  his  spread  blanket,  heads  to  the  barrels,  when  he 
carefully  pulled  the  tarpaulin  over  our  faces. 


86  EIGHTEEN  YEARS  OF  RECKLESSNESS. 

"Now  then,"  he  whispered  to  me,  "there  is  a  rubber  tube  near 
your  head  with  the  end  tied ;  the  other  end  is  in  the  barrel ;  just 
loosen  the  string,  put  the  rubber  into  your  mouth,  and  let  it  run  !" 

it  would  be  useless  to  spend  time  to  add  that  I  implicitly  obeyed, 
and  "let  it  run." 

I  found  that  he  had  taken  his  water-filterer,  and  by  doing  as  I 
have  described  converted  it  into  a  perfect  siphon.  This  spot  was 
occupied  at  different  times  during  the  night  by  the  majority  of  the 
soakers  on  board ;  and  as  a  consequence  the  Captain  was  surprised 
the  next  morning  to  find  that  his  coripany  were  too  tired  to  stand 
"eyes  to  the  right"  at  roll-call.  But  how  it  was  that  the  drinking 
was  kept  up  during  the  day  was  a  puzzler.  The  fact,  however,  was, 
that  one  who  will  figure  somewhat  conspicuous  hereafter  as  promi- 
nent in  this  kind  of  business,  and  who  was  known  as  "Bobby,"  our 
blacksmith,  had  taken  the  precaution  during  the  night  to  fill  a 
couple  of  rubber  buckets. 

As  this  business  of  demoralization  was  not  in  accordance  with 
military  rules  or  discipline,  or  agreeable  to  the  more  refined  tastes  of 
our  commanding  officer,  he  "rounded  to"  a  passing  steamer  loaded 
with  Infantry,  from  which  he  secured  a  guard  of  four  men  for  the 
purpose  of  securing  greater  safety,  not  to  those  under  him,  but 
to  the  barrels. 

As  night  approached  he  placed  the  guard,  giving  them  strict 
orders  for  a  detail  of  two,  one  on  each  side  of  the  matter  in  contro- 
versy, to  walk  their  "beat"  faithfully,  musket  at  a  shoulder  arms, 
and  under  no  circumstances  to  allow  an  approach  to  the  coveted 
government  property. 

This  all  went  well  for  a  time,  but  it  was  not  long  before  the  can- 
teen was  offered  those  who  were  to  do  duty  from  12  o'clock  till  day- 
light ;  this  offer  was  an  acceptable  one,  and  these  two  were  well 
plied  with  liquid  from  the  stock  they  were  soon  to  protect.  The 
last  drink  they  took  was,  to  them,  the  straw  that  broke  the  cam- 
el's back.  They  took  their  positions,  but  were  asleep  as  soon  as  the 
ones  they  had  relieved,  who  had  also  imbibed  freely.  The  sequel 
may  be  told  in  few  words,  for  as  day  dawned  it  broke  in  upon  four 
drunken  borrowed  Infantry  soldiers,  minus  their  muskets^  and  the 
'boys"  in  the  condition  they  so  much  desired. 

This  was  too  much  for  the  patience  of  our  Commander,  and  at  a 
landing  soon  effected,  a  picked  guard  was  detached  from  a  Minne- 


KICHTEEN  YEARS  OF  RECKLESSNESS.  37 

sota  regiment.  These  men  could  not  be  tampered  with  ;  no  induce- 
ment could  be  offered  to  make  them  accede  to  our  Dishes.  Ascer- 
taining this,  it  was  soon  understood  that  otner  means  must  be 
resorted  to  by  which  to  secure  that  which  though  "so  near,  was  yet 
so  far." 

The  night  following,  "Bobby"  called  for  assistance  as,  to  use  his 
own  expression,  he  had  "found  an  opening."  He  led  the  way  to  the 
boiler  deck,  where,  as  the  boat  was  then  "lying  up,"  all  was 
quiet.  Climbing  up  among  the  machinery  he  asked  for  three  rub- 
ber pails  that  were  in  readiness.  This  done  they  were  soon  handed 
down  filled  with  whisky.  The  getting  of  this  was  by  simply  bore- 
ing  a  two-inch  auger  hole  through  the  cabin  floor,  and  then  another 
smaller  one  into  the  barrel  above  ;  then  a  plug  only  was  needed  to 
consummate  the  object  and  outdo  the  guard  who  were  busy  patroll 
ing  upon  their  beat.  Whether  the  demand  of  the  boat  for  pay  for 
two  barrels  of  whisky  was  honored  or  not  I  never  learned. 

Through  that  winter  everything  in  camp  was  dismal  and  gloomy, 
but  with  the  opening  of  Spring  the  campaign  against  Yicksburg 
began  in  earnest. 

I  remember  that  while  going  up  in  the  rear  of  that  city,  as  we 
had  routed  the  "rebs"  from  a  town  named  Port  Gibson,  we  looked 
in  vain  for  "something  to  take."  In  a  drug  store  that  was  visited 
everything  in  the  spirit  line  was  gone,  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
dozen  bottles  of  Perry  Davis'  Pain  Killer.  This  being  the  nearest 
to  whisky  of  anything  we  had  seen  for  a  longtime,  it  was  concluded 
to  try  for  a  drunk  on  it.  Myself  and  three  others  diluted  four  bot- 
tles with  water  and  drank  it.  At  roll-call  the  next  morning  we 
were  absent  and  reported  as  beinu' upon  the  sick  list.  In  making 
his  rounds,  the  brigade  Surgeon  called  into  our  tent.  The  cause  of 
our  trouble  was  explained,  and  after  the  usual  tongue-looking  at  and 
pulse-feeling,  he  put  away  the  regular  pill  and  powder  dose  that 
was  usually  prescribed  for  all  diseases  the  soldier  was  heir  to,  and 
simply  said  : 

"  Quick  pulse ;  tongue  furred  ;  considerable  indications  of  fever. 
The  diet  for  these  men  for  two  days  may  be  purgatives  and  salts." 

I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  this  surgeon,  or  his  remedy  upon  that 
occasion,  will  never  be  forgotten  by  his  four  unfortunate  patients. 

While  Gen'l.  John   A.  McClernand,   of  Illinois,    commanded  the 
13th  Army  Corps,  a  ration  of  whisky,  called  a  "jigger,"  (a  gill)  was 


38  EIGHTEEN  YEARS  OF  RECKLESSNESS. 

issued  to  our  company  every  morning,  but  when  he  was  superseded 
by  Gen.  0.  E.  C.  Ord,  this  was  cut  off,  and  during  the  forty-seven 
days  of  the  siege  of  Vicksburg,  we  were  without  whisky,  until  the 
4th  of  July,  when,  as  it  was  the  anniversary  of  our  nation's  birth- 
day, the  Captain  made  arrangements  for,  and  procured  the  "jiggei\" 

This  taste  only  caused  a  desire  for  more,  but  how  to  secure  it 
was  not  so  easy  to  decide.  This  day,  however,  the  city  capitulated, 
and  when  the  white  flag  was  raised  opposite  the  cotton  bale  breast- 
works that  had  afforded  us  protection,  the  members  of  the  company 
were  the  first  to  scale  the  works  and  enter  the  town. 

As  I  emerged  from  an  unoccupied  store  building  which  I  had  vis- 
ited upon  a  private  foraging  expedition,  my  attention  was  attracted 
by  an  unusual  commotion  among  a  group  of  Union  soldiers.  Upon 
visiting  the  scene  of  excitement,  I  found  a  number  of  soldiers  busy 
in  getting  a  ban;el  out  of  a  cellar.  As  soon  as  they  had  succeeded 
and  knocked  the  head  in,  the  welcome  shout  went  up  long  and  loud, 

"Whisky,  boys,  whisky!" 

Into  the  barrel  went  caps,  hats,  canteens,  cups,  and  everything 
available,  and  out  they  came  filled  with  whisky.  Remembering 
that  I  had  noticed  a  tin  wash  basin  in  the  building  I  had  just  left,  I 
returned,  procured,  and  filled  it. 

Returning  to  our  camp  at  evening  it  was  found  that  the  company 
had  received  marching  order-,  and  were  on  their  way  to  Jackson, 
the  capital  of  the  state.  At  this  place,  after  the  retreat  of  the  rebel 
general,  Joe  Johnston,  across  Pearl  river,  the  same  scenes  were 
enacted  that  had  disgraced  the  troops  in  the  place  we  had  just 
vacated.  Liquors  and  tobacco  were  found  and  confiscated  by  indi- 
viduals, to  a  very  great  extent,  and  men  by  the  score  became  intox- 
icated, and  in  such  condition  were  returned  to  camp  outside  the 
trenches.  The  dissipation  had  not  probably  reached  the  extent  that 
it  would  have  done,  had  the  stay  in  town  been  of  longer  duration ; 
but  it  being  ascertained  that  the  streets  were  filled  with  torpedoes, 
buried  near  the  surface,  a  stampede  was  caused. 

Upon  our  arrival  at  Vicksburg  again,  we  were  quartered  on  the 
levee  in  the  lower  part  of  the  city,  for  a  few  days,  previous  to  being 
transferred  to  the  Army  of  the  Southwest  underGen'l  Banks.  Du- 
ring this  stay  word -was  brought  into  camp  that  a  commissary  boat 
had  arrived  at  the  wharf,  and  that  it  had  brought  a  quantity  of  sup- 
plies for  the  members  of  the  company.  This  was  welcome  news 


EIGHTEEN  YEARS  OF  RECKLESSNESS.  t  3D 

for  nothing  was  as  much  appreciated  as  those  packages  sent  by  kind 
friends  at  home.  A  squad  was  immediately  detailed  to  go  to  the 
boat  for  these  goods.  A  wagon  and  the  requisite  four  mules  were 
soon  in  readiness.  Arriving  at  our  destination,  myself  and  Lew,. 
who,  by  the  way  was  an  admirable  companion  for  me,  were  very 
much  surprised  as  well  as  elated  by  discovering  near  the  boxes  we 
were  to  get,  a  large  number  of  packages  upon  which  in  glowing  let- 
ters upon  a  tinted  label  were  plainly  printed  the  words:  "2  dozen, 
bottles  old  bourbon  whisky." 

Here  again  was  a  position  that  might  lead  many  to  .be  tempted 
to  almost  forget  their  scruples  as  to  honesty.  In  reply  to  the  ques- 
tion as  to  the  propriety  of  confiscation,  I  replied  that  I  could  only 
order  the  men  to  carry  off  what  was  marked  for  the  Company,  but 
that  I  had  noticed  a  marking  pot  in  the  front  part  of  the  boat.  It 
must  have  been  found,  for  two  boxes  of  this  '^cordial"  marked  on  the 
bottom  with  a  fictitious  name,  passed  the  argus-eyed  check  clerk,  and 
were  snugly  ensconced  in  the  wagon. 

In  going  to  camp  the  team  was  halted  at  a  bakery,  where  the  two 
boxes  were  taken  in,  and  hurried  through  into  a  back  apartment. 
This  place  was  a  resort  that  answered  the  purpose  admirably.  Upon 
knocking  off  the  cover  of  one,  and  drawing  a  cork,  the  commissary 
was  pronounced  excellent,  and  the  work  of  sampling  did  not  sub- 
side until  six  bottles  were  successfully  emptied.  We  then  left  for 
camp,  but  were  so  full  that  we  were  obliged  to  take  many  more 
steps  to  reach  it  than  would  have  been  necessary  under  other  cir- 
cumstances. Finally  our  destiny  was  reached,  and  by  a  back  way, 
we  endeavored  to  get  in  so  that  our  condition  might  not  be  known. 
I  had  been  but  a  short  time  lying  down  on  my  bunk  when  an  order- 
ly appeared  at  the  door  with  the  peremptory  order : 

"Come  with  me,  under  arrest,  to  headquarters  ? " 

This  I  was  hardly  prepared  for,  as  my  position  was  such  that  I 
had  uniformly  escaped  punishment  for  my  reckless  acts,  but  with 
my  bewildered  mind  fully  prepared  for  a  term  at  extra  duty,  as  a 
punishment  for  staggering  into  camp,  I  left  to  have  sentence  passed. 

Arriving  in  the  presence  of  the  officer  who  had  summoned  me,  he 
said : 

"So  you  are  drunk,  'eh  ? " 

"Not  that  I  am  aware  of." 

"Well,  it's  a  fact,  nevertheless  ;  you  staggered  into  camp   half  an 


40  EIGHTEEN  YEARS  OF  RECKLESSNESS. 

Lcur  ago  in  a  fearful  state  of  intoxication.  Where  di  1  you  get 
your  liquor  ? " 

"At  the  boat  I  got  a  little." 

"And  drank  it  up  like  a  hog  ?,' 

"Yes  sir,  I  drank  it." 

'•Well  sir  you  seem  to  have  got  so  low  as  not  to  recognize  these 
headquarters  as  having  either  heart  or  soul.  You  know  that  under 
our  circumstances  here,  what  you  have  made  a  beast  of  yourself 
with,  would  have  done  much  good,  properly  distributed.  As  long 
as  you  have  no  more  charity  or  feeling  for  others  than  this  comes 
to,  you  may  have  ten  days  extra  police  duty." 

I  remarked  by  way  of  an  excuse,  that  I  had  become  in  posses- 
sion of  two  quart  bottles  of  Old  Bourbon,  and  had  drank  but  one, 
and  that  the  other  was  in  my  tent. 

"Then,"  said  he,  "go  and  bring  it  here." 

I  did  so,  and  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  it  disappear.  After 
about  the  third  drink  the  officer  again  addressed  me  : 

"Cotes,  learn  always  to  be  charitable,  especially  to  your  superior 
officers.  I  know  ^ou  intended  all  right,  only  you  were  forgetful. 
I'll  suspend  that  extra  duty  arrangment." 

When  the  bottle  had  been  drained,  and  as  I  was  about  leaving,  I 
was  saluted  with  the  exclamation  : 

"Say,  was  two  bottles  all  you  got  ?  " 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Taking  steamboats  for  New  Orleans,  little  of  note  in  our  particular 
branch  transpired  until  reaching  that  city.  Upon  visiting  the 
saloons  it  was  soon  ascertained  that  orders  were  strict  in  regard  to 
selling  strong  beverages  to  "privates,"  and  it  could  only  be  done  by 
an  officer  vouching  to  the  bar  tender.  This  was  easily  overcome, 
as  one  of  the  boys  would  put  on  a  pair  of  shoulder  straps,  and  then 
with  half  a  dozen  or  more  go  to  the  saloon — take  a  drink  alone, 
with  all  the  dignity  imaginable,  and  then  stand  off.  One  of  the 
party  would  then  approach  and  address  him  in  a  manner  becoming 
his  assumed  position,  and  ask  him  if  he  would  vouch  for  the  crowd, 
when,  after  a  little  parleying,  he  would  advance  to  the  bar  and  sim- 
ply say  : 

"These  men  are  all  right;  let  them  have  what  they  want." 

Thecampof  the  company  at  this  time  was  located  at  Greenville, 
three  miles  above  the  city,  and  the  excursions  to  town  were  very 
frequent,  especially  about  pay  day.  These  visits  but  seldom  result- 
ed in  benefit  to  those  who  made  them,  but  often  proved  more  detri- 
mental than  otherwise. 

On  one  occasion  never  to  be  forgotten  by  me,  a  comrade  and 
myself  sought  permission  to  "go  down  to  town"  upon  a  certain 
evening ;  but  our  request  was  not  received  with  favor  by  the  officer 
of  the  day,  and  finally  we  were  flatly  refused.  Not  proposing  to 
be  disappointed  in  our  anticipated  pleasure,  it  was  agreed  to  take 
our  horses  from  the  stable  after  dark,  and  go  without  consent  or 
pass,  taking  our  chances  for  success.  We  did  so,  and  upon  arriving 
in  the  city  spent  the  time  in  drinking  at  saloons,  for  now  as  we  had 
become  acquainted,  it  was  no  difficult  task  to  get  all  the  drink  we 
had  money  to  pay  for.  Late  at  night,  in  a  condition  rather  worse 
for  what  we  had  taken,  we  visited  the  home  of  a  private  family 
where  we  sent  out  for  what  was  wanted  and  indulged  dissipating 
until  after  midnight.  About  1  o'clock,  when  we  started  for  camp, 
Mike,  my  partner,  who  for  some  reason,  was  not  as  much  intoxicated 


42  EIGHTEEN  YEARS  OF  RECKLESSNESS. 

as  myself,  was  obliged  to  assist  rue  to  mount  rny  horse.  After  going 
a  few  squares,  we  struck  the  turnpike,  a  road  elevated  about  three 
or  four  feet  and  constructed  of  broken  shells,  but  the  speed  of  the 
animals  on  this  easy-going  road  was  too  much  for  me,  and  I  was 
obliged  to  affectionately  embrace  the  neck  of  my  horse.  My  friend 
who  was  in  the  lead  became  disgusted  with  this  mode  of  mine,  and 
reining  in  his  horse  until  I  came  up,  angrily  gave  me  a  push,  which, 
however  unintentional,  resulted  in  rolling  me  off,  and  down  the 
embankment.  All  efforts  to  right  myself  proved  unavailing,  and 
Mike  tying  the  horses  to  an  adjoining  fence,  came  to  my  relief.  By 
dint  of  great  exertion  he  got  me  again  astride  of  my  horse,  and 
leading  the  animals  to  the  pike  again,  gave  spurs  to  his  steed,  and 
exclaimed  : 

"Come  on,  Cotes,  you're  all  right  now !  " 

It  seemed  to  rne  even  more  natural  than  before  to  lean  for  that 
embrace.  I  felt  for  the  mane,  but  did  not  seem  to  reach  it ;  the  place 
where  it  should  be,  appeared  smooth  and  decidedly  out  of  the  proper 
location,  and  I  was  almost  persuaded  that  the  cruel  wind  had  rob- 
bed the  horse  of  an  ornament  and  me  of  a  kind  protection.  The 
explanation  finally  came  that  I  was  riding  "face  to  the  rear." 

The    words  that  next  erected  me  during  that  fearful  ride  were 

<—•  o 

"dodge  your  head." 

We  had  reached  the  stable  door,  but  the  hint  was  unnecessary  as 
the  caution  had  been  properly  observed  during  the  ride  of  the  last 
two  miles. 

In  the  morning  when  I  was  awakened,  I  was  lying  beside  my 
horse,  my  head  being  not  more  than  ten  or  twelve  inches  from  his 
feet.  He  stood  there  with  his  equipments  on,  as  he  had  come  in, 
and  as  I,  poor  drunken  sot,  scrambled  up,  his  noble  nature  seemed 
to  shame  me,  and  the  intelligent  eye  to  as  much  as  say,  "Were  it  not 
for  the  instinct  with  which  I  am  gifted,  a  troupe  marching  to  the 
music  of  a  funeral  dirge,  and  muskets  reversed,  would  to-day  have 
followed  a  drunkard's  remains  to  a  disgraced  soldier's  grave." 

I  was  not  long  in  this  department  before  I  was  put  upon  detached 
service,  being  ordered  to  report  for  duty  as  clerk  at  "Headquarters 
Defenses  of  New  Orleans."  While  in  this  position,  the  matter  of 
managing  drink  was  easily  performed,  not  only  for  myself,  but  for 
the  less  fortunate  members  of  my  company  who  came  from  the  camp 
at  Greenville. 


•  EIGHTEEN  YEARS  OF  RECKLESSNESS.  43 

At  one  time  a  high  private  whom  I  shall  designate  by  the  name 
of  Benson,  called  upon  me,  and  urged  that  I  should  go  out  with  him 
to  get  some  oysters  and  a  drink.  After  considerable  persuasion  I 
left  my  business  and  accompanied  him.  We  entered  a  saloon,  and 
passing  through  to  a  rear  room,  my  friend  ordered  the  refreshments. 
Soon  the  bivalves,  bottle  of  whisky  and  two  glasses  were  before  us. 
We  ate  and  drank  to  our  fill,  for  it  was  an  unusual  thing  for  B.  to 
be  so  generous,  he  generally  spending  his  cash  in  procuring  his  own 
stimulant.  Finally  taking  the  bottle,  after  a  last  round,  he  remarked 
that  he  would  go  into  the  bar  and  set)  le  his  bill,  and§return  in  a  few 
minutes.  His  minutes  were  so  Ion/*  that  I  went  in  pursuit  of  him, 
but  I  found  he  had  gone.  As  I  was  about  to  leave,  I  was  asked  by 
the  person  in  charge  whether  I  was  going  off  without  first  settling 
my  bill.  Explanations  were  of  no  use,  as  my  partner  had  informed 
him  I  was  to  pa} .  To  dispute  would  have  only  involved  me  in 
trouble,  so  the  bill  was  settled  I  was  again  upon  the  threshold  when 
this  personage,  after  returning  from  the  room  we  had  occupied,  came 
and  collared  me,  demanding  "that  bottle  of  whisky."  Again  remon- 
strance was  useless,  and  a  search  proving  my  innocence,  I  was  only 
allowed  to  go  after  paying  for  it,  as  the  person  interested  declared 
it  was  a  put  up  job  between  us. 

This  B.  was  the  same  person  that  played  succesefully  the  role  of 
Gen,  Banks'  servant,  and  visiting  tobacco  warehouses  obtained  sam- 
ples of  the  narcotic  from  which  the  Gen.  could  select  to  order  in  quan- 
tities from.  In  this  he  was  so  successful  as  never  to  be  out,  and  could 
often  supply  others,  for  a  consideration. 

After  remaining  at  headquarters  for  some  time,  I  was  ordered  to 
proceed  to  Fort  Gentilly  and  take  in  charge  the  ordnance  and  ord- 
nance stores  at  that  place.  This  Fort  was  located  two  miles  from  New 
Orleans,  and  midway  between  that  place  and  Lake  Pontchartrain. 
While  here  my  duties  were  simple  and  occupied  but  an  hour  each 
morning.  The  most  of  the  time  not  occupied  at  the  fort  was  spent  at 
a  French  saloon,  about  half  a  mile  distant.  It  was  the  custom  of  my- 
self and  the  officers  who  commanded  the  colored  soldiers  stationed 
there,  to  fill  up  at  this  place,  the  intervening  time  being  spent  at 
cards,  rolette,  etc.  At  one  time  I  had  remained  during  the  afternoon 
and  until  late  in  the  evening,  when  upon  attempting  to  start  for  camp, 
I  ascertained  that  I  was  very  much  intoxicated.  Upon  ascertaining 
this  fact,  I  used  the  drunkard's  general  remedy,  and  taking  another 


EIGHTEEN  YEARS  OF  RECKLESSNESS. 

drink,  left  on  the  railroad  track  for  my  tent  at  the  Fort.  I  remember 
the  effort  I  mude  in  staggering  along  to  proceed,  as  I  found  it  almost 
impossible  to  do  so. 

At  about  4  o'clock  tlie  next  morning  I  was  suddenly  awakened  from 
a  sound  sleep  by  a  loud  shrill  scream  near  me.  So  startling  was  it  that 
I  attempted  to  rise,  but  was  unable,  and  raising  my  head  the  bright 
reflection  of  a  locomotive's  head  light  flashed  into  my  face.  A  train 
was  approaching  at  full  speed  and  was  within  a  few  rods  of  me. 
Almost  unconsciousy  and  instantly  I  rolled  to  the  side,  and  off  the 
track,  the  wheels,  of  the  engine  taking  the  heel  from  off  my  boot ! 

As  the  holidays  approached,  the  Battery  received  marching  orders, 
and  those  on  detached  service  were  ordered  to  report  to  their  respective 
commands  for  duty. 

Returning  to  camp  I  found  considerable  dissatisfaction  manifested 
in  regard  to  a  prolonged  absence  of  "Bobby".  He  was  wanted  to 
shoe  the  horses  preparatory  to  our  anticipated  departure.  In  the  after- 
noon he  was  found  by  those  who  hal  been  sent  in  search,  and  was 
brought  into  camp  in  a  partial  state  of  inebriety.  As  it  was  essential 
he  should  remain,  the  Captain  ordered  that  he  be  chained  under 
his  forge,  that  he  might  sober  off,  and  get  into  condition  to  perform 
the  labor  that  was  awaiting  his  attention.  He  was  accordingly  set 
upon  the  ground  beneath  the  forge,  which  was  upon  a  wagon  shaped 
running  gear,  and  a  chain  was  fastened  around  both  ancles  and  to  the 
•coupling  pole  above.  For  greater  security,  pad-locks  were  used  with 
which  to  make  his  presence  more  sure. 

Towards  evening,  the  camp  was  in  great  consternation,  the  cause  of 
which  seemed  to  emanate  from  the  locality  where  "Bobby"  had  been 
confined.  As  the  members  of  the  company  surrounded  the  late  place 
of  confinement,  what  was  their  amazement  to  find  that  the  fractious 
blacksmith  was  represented  only  by  his  boots,  the  legs  having  been 
withdrawn  and  taken  the  body  to  more  congenial  quarters. 


CHAPTER  X. 

A  few  days  before  Christmas,  the  steamship  St.  Mary  left  her  dock 
at  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  loaded  with  the  members,  horses,  and 
equipments  of  our  company.  After  a  tedious  and  rough  voyage  over 
the  waters  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  we  were  landed  more  dead  than 
alive  from  sea  sickness,  upon  a  sand  peninsula  formed  between  the 
Gulf  and  Mategorda  Bay.  At  this  place,  the  first  night  we  were 
visited  with  what  in  Texas  is  known  as  a  "Norther."  Our  tents  were 
blown  down,  and  we  were  drenched  with  a  cold  chilly  rain.  Our 
breakfast  was  so  highly  seasoned  with  sand  as  to  be  very  unsavory,  yet 
this  was  Christmas  morning. 

D.  and  myself  concluded  that  a  more  necessary  time  than  this  one 
to  celebrate  had  never  dawned,  under  the  circumstances,  but  how  to 
secure  the  necessary  stimulant  for  the  occasion  was  more  than  we 
could  conjecture.  Fresh  water  could  only  be  had  by  making  shallow 
holes  in  the  sand,  and  immediately  dipping  out  before  it  became  salt, 
but  as  to  whisky,  there  was  not  a  drop  to  be  had  in  camp,  and  the 
Battery  had  no  suttler.  But  an  effort  must  be  made,  so  we  traveled 
through  wind  and  rain  to  the  suttler's  store  of  a  regiment  in  our 
brigade,  and  made  arragement  for  credit  by  giving  an  order  on  the  pay- 
master. Our  disappointment,  however,  was  great  when  informed  that 
beer  or  whisky  were  not  to  had,  and  that  the  nearest  approach  to  it  was 
Hostetter's  Stomach  Bitters.  This  being  the  best  to  be  had,  under 
the  circumstances,  three  bottles  were  purchased  and  drank ; 
then  with  one  each  in  our  pockets,  we  wended  our  way  towards  camp. 
On  the  way  we  became  very  "tired,"  and  sat  down  in  the  sand  to  rest; 
here  we  took  another  drink  or  two. 

It  was  probably  an  hour,  or  v,  might  have  bee:i  two,  after  this,  that 
a  party  from  camp  passing  near  the  spot  noticed  the  apparently  lifeless 
bodies  of  two  soldiers,  nearly  buried  in  the  drifted  sand.  They  were 


46  EIGHTEEN  YEARS  OF  RECKLESSNESS. 

taken  out,  carried  to  camp,  and  when  resussitated,  recognized  as  myself 
and  my  friend  D. 

Although  this  came  near  proving  our  last  Christmas,  the  day  did 
not  end  our  suffering,  for  that  useful  medicinal  remedy's  effect  was 
something  similar  to  the  cider  drunk  heretofore  described,  and  lasted 
two  or  three  days.  Whatever  else  may  have  been  gained  by  this 
spree  it  was  solemnly  vowed  that  in  the  future  when  a  drunk-producer 
was  needed  a  wide  berth  would  be  given  Hostetter's  Bitters. 

A  few  days  after  this  occurrence  I  received  an  order  from  General 
Banks'  headquarters  in  New  Orleans  to  report  in  that  city  for  the  pur- 
pose of  being  examined  as  to  my  qualifications  for  an  officer  in  the 
Corps  d'Afrique.  Upon  reporting  I  was  ordered  to  make  headquar- 
ters at  the  Soldier's  Home,  and  when  prepared,  to  report  to  Schuyler 
Crosby,  of  the  Commanding  General's  staff.  At  this  time  a  friend 
and  chum  named  Torn,  also  came  over,  and  was  my  companion  at  the 
Home,  where  for  a  while  we  remained,  lonesome  and  homesick  as  well 
as  penniless. 

On  a  Sabbath  morning  not  long  after  our  arrival,  and  as  we  entered 
the  street  after  leaving  thejjbreakfast  table,  Tom  said  to  me  : 

"Now,  you  haven't  a  cent;*have  you?" 

I  answered  him  as  he  well  knew  I  only  could. 

"Well,"  continued  he,  "this  will  never  do  ;  we  can't  get  along  this 
way.  I  have  been  thinking  the  matter  over  this  morning,  and  have 
resolved  upon  a  good  plan  to  make  a  raise.  Will  you  go  into  it  with 
me  ?  " 

"  If  it  is  honest  and  honorable,  I  will." 

"Well,  come  with  me  and  I  will  explain  more  fully." 

We  went  along  down  to  the  canal,  and  then  walked  up  that,  until 
meeting  a  resident  Tom  inquired  of  him  where  the  pastor  of  the  col- 
ored church  lived.  We  were  informed,  and  went  to  the  house  indi- 
cated. Here  we  found  the  person  who  officiated  as  preacher  to  a 
large  congregation.  To  him  Tom  introduced  himself  as  an  army 
chaplain,  and  as  taking  great  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  poor  down- 
trodden blacks,  winding  up  by  offering  to  preach  for  him  at  the  morn- 
ing service.  The  whites  of  the  darky's  eyes  seemed  to  enlarge  as  he 
accepted  the  offer,  probably  because  it  was  seldom  that  white  ministers 
did  him  such  honor. 


EIGHTEEN  YEARS  OF  RECKLESSNESS.  47 

At  the  appointed  hour  for  service,  we,  with  the  family  wended  our 
way  to  the  house  of  God.  Tom  and  the  preacher  occupied  the  pulpit 
and  myself  the  pew,  honored  by  the  presence  of  the  sable  wife  and  two 
daughters.  The  preacher  gave  out  a  hymn  and  led  in  prayer  ;  mean- 
time Tom  had  opened  the  Bible  at  the  place  from  which  his  text  was 
to  be  read.  I  was  happy  in  the  thought  of  being  in  so  limited  a  man- 
ner connected  with  this  ludicrous  and  wicked  proceeding,  when  a  whis- 
per from  Tom  to  the  preacher  brought  the  colored  divine  to  my  side 
with  an  imperative  order  for  me  take  a  seat  in  the  pulpit.  This  I  very 
respectfully  declined.  But  a  second  time  he  came  and  was  more  deter- 
mined. 

Upon  this  occasion  the  demand  for  my  presence  in  the  rostrum  was 
couched  in  this  strain  : 

"Now  look  a  heah,  my  dear  brodder,  I  know  dat  it's  askin'  a  heap, 
but  de  odder  chaplin  dun  gone  gwine  to  preach,  an  he  say  you's  got 
to  exhort  to  dis  congregashion." 

I  was  not  persuaded. 

My  comrade,  finding  his  attempted  joke  on  me,  a  failure  assumed  an 
expression  of  reverence  and  dignity,  and  taking  a  text  preached  a  ser- 
mon that  would,  had  the  proper  spirit  prompted  it,  have  done  credit  to 
many  who  have  spent  years  in  theological  observations. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  service,  the  "Army  Chaplain"  explained 
to  the  large  assembly  that  he  was  connected  with  an  institution  located 
at  a  town  named  Rockford,  in  Northern  Illinois,  that  had  for 
its  objects  the  alleviation  of  the  colored  race ;  that  as  they  were  lib- 
erated from  the  chains  of  slavery  by  the  advance  of  the  Union  Army, 
they  were  sent  to  this  place,  where  they  were  fed  and  clothed  until 
good  situations  could  be  procured  for  them  among  the  neighboring 
farmers.  He  also  told  them  that  all  this  cost  money,  and  the  funds  in 
the  hands  of  the  trustees  had  become  so  low,  on  account  of  the  late 
increase,  that  he  had  been  sent  South  to  secure  what  little  the  colored 
folks  who  had  been  relieved  from  the  yoke  of  oppression,  might  feel 
inclined  to  give. 

After  a  telling  and  fervent  appeal  had  been  made,  a  contribution 
for  the  purpose  alluded  to  was  taken  up,  the  proceeds  taken  in  charge, 
the  audience  dismissed,  and  Tom  and  myself  on  our  way  home,  having 
declined  an  invitation  to  dine  with  the  minister  and  family. 


48  j  EIGHTEEN  YEARS  OF  RECKLESSNESS. 

As  we  approached  the  first  saloon,  Tom  cried  out : 
"Come  in  Cotes,  get  a  drink,  and  let's  divide." 
His  brazen  eloquence,  apparent  fervency  and  piety,  had  brought  to 
our  exhausted  exchequer  the  sum  of  nine  dollars  and  forty-five  cents. 


Our  narrative  might  appear  incomplete  should  it  close  without  fur- 
ther remark  concerning  our  refractory,  though  good-hearted  black- 
smith. He  returned  with  the  company  to  Chicago,  and  was  properly 
mustered  out  of  the  service.  Sometime  afterwards  as  he  was  riding 
on  the  state  street  cars,  under  the  influence  of  drink,  he  fell  from  the 
car  and  was  killed. 

Tom,  also,  must  not  be  passed  unnoticed,  for  after  his  return  from 
the  service,  I  have  been  informed,  he  occasionally  occupied  the  pulpit, 
and  subsequently  studied,  and  practiced  medicine  to  good  advantage, 
at  least  to  himself. 

Those  represented  as  Lew  and  D.  are  identically  the  same,  and  the 
individual  still  remains  in  the  South  where  his  abilities  are  exerted  for 
the  accomplishment  of  the  same  object  he  labored  so  assiduously  for 
while  in  the  army. 

Benson  returned  to  Chicago — attempted  to  reform,  and  secured  a 
good  situation  as  traveling  salesman  for  a  wholesale  house.  On  one 
of  his  trips,  while  in  a  country  town,  he  got  on  a  spree,  and  in  a  fit  of 
delirium  tremens  jumped  from  an  upper  story  window  of  a  mill,  but 
fortunately  escaped  becoming  a  self-mm  derer. 


Kf 


